“Depriving these institutions of software updates and services could endanger the health and safety of innocent people, including children and the elderly,” Smith said in an unnamed March 14 letter to Reuters. Smith told President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Microsoft “has a moral responsibility” to protect civilians. However, he said the company was discussing with the US, British and EU governments whether to “stop any ongoing services and support” in Russia and that it would move “in line with sanctions and other economic goals”. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Asked about the exchange, representatives of both Microsoft and Ukraine said a constructive dialogue was under way on actions to support the country. The decision of some leading Western business technology makers – including Microsoft, the German multinational software company SAP SE (SAPG.DE) and the American giant International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N) – to keep their operations or staff in Russia despite Ukraine’s appeals have angered their workers in several countries. Small groups of employees at Microsoft, SAP and IBM have called on management to withdraw completely from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, according to comments seen by Reuters in internal discussion forums and interviews with 18 employees familiar with the companies. who sought anonymity because they were not authorized to speak in public. The workers – echoing Ukrainian officials – urged companies to go beyond closing new sales and withdrawing sanctioned customers in order to increase financial pressure on Moscow. They want their companies to suspend all deals in Russia, including software that customers can use to track sales, supply chains and the workforce. Asked about internal criticism, IBM said it had stopped working with Russian companies anywhere in the world – although it had no layoffs or suspended support for foreign companies in Russia. SAP told Reuters that it was complying with the government’s actions and even going beyond them, and that it would “welcome the new sanctions that are currently being discussed”. SAP responded to Ukraine’s demands to sever all ties with Russia in a letter that was not disclosed earlier this month to President Zelensky – partly examined by Reuters – saying it supported key Russian services, including “hospitals, non-hospitals”. military infrastructure and food supply chains “. The three companies did not rule out the possibility of further withdrawal. However, for now, their employees in Russia are paid and have access to tools in the workplace, their colleagues said. Local phone numbers are active for all three, Reuters found. Asked about demands from Western tech companies for their own workers and the Ukrainian government to leave Russia, a Kremlin spokesman said “some companies are leaving, others are staying. New ones will take their place.” The spokesman noted that the companies had legal obligations to employees that had to be met, such as the payment of salaries. Russian prosecutors have warned some Western companies that their staff could face arrest if the production of basic goods stops, according to media reports. read more The Wall Street Journal named IBM among those warned. A Kremlin spokesman denied reports of pressure on companies by prosecutors: “The arrest warrant is a lie.” UKRAINIAN LOBBY Ukrainian Vice President Mykhailo Fedorov, one of the leading activists in the digital blockade, said Russia was already feeling the effects as some technology companies, such as developers of digital payment tools and web development, were leaving. But he is pushing for a complete withdrawal. “We will continue to work until these companies make the decision to leave Russia,” he said. Fedorov’s team told Reuters last week that a “huge number” of Russian companies have contracts for SAP software, including major banking and energy companies. Reuters could not independently confirm SAP’s customers in Russia, and SAP said it was fully complying with the sanctions. Russia’s Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media has not responded to requests for comment on the impact of departures from Western technology companies, nor the extent of SAP’s footprint in the country. Reflecting the Ukrainian government’s message, the five SAP vendors for Ukraine told regional executives in a call on March 18 that the company should stop supporting other Russian customers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Fedorov tweeted Friday, citing a conversation with SAP CEO Christian Klein that the company would “gradually stop supporting” products in Russia. A day earlier, SAP had announced it was closing down Russia’s cloud business, which two sources described as a small business. In a letter sent to customers in Russia on March 23, which was examined by Reuters, SAP asked cloud customers to advise whether their data in the Russian cloud should be deleted, delivered or moved abroad. . SAP confirmed the contents of the letter, saying that Fedorov and Klein had spoken. He declined to comment further. At IBM, hundreds of employees criticized the company’s response to the Russian invasion, said three people with knowledge of internal messages. Chief executive Arvind Krishna in a March 2 call with officials had not taken a stand on the war, one source said. In a public message to employees the day before, IBM referred to what it described as “the deteriorating situation in Ukraine and Russia.” A comment on an internal discussion forum, seen by Reuters, invited the CEO to read a book about IBM’s work during the Holocaust, which describes how the company designed card machines used by Nazi Germany to track Jews. “Think carefully and do the right thing – pull IBM and IBMer’s to Russia from Russia,” the employee wrote. IBM declined to comment. Responding to the outcry, Krishna announced in a March 3 post the suspension of sales to Russia and condemned “the Russian war in Ukraine.” On March 7, he went on to say that IBM had suspended “all operations” in Russia – without giving further details. An IBM spokesman told Reuters on March 24 that the suspension meant that the company no longer provided “goods, spare parts, software, services, advice and technology” anywhere in the world to Russian customers. Several Microsoft employees in internal chat tools have also asked the company to leave Russia altogether, with some even telling senior executives that they would resign otherwise, an official said. Microsoft declined to comment. DOUBTS Some workers told Reuters they had not participated in calls for full withdrawals due to doubts about civilian casualties and how strong the impact of the companies’ departure from Russia would be. For example, the United States on February 24 imposed sanctions on Russian Railways, a state-owned company that operates passenger and freight trains. IBM that day placed the company on the “List of Denied Places” and cut off technical support, according to an IBM letter to Ukrainian Minister Fedorov dated March 5, which was viewed by Reuters. Denied parties may not have access to official replacement disks, adapters and server memory that a former IBM vendor said should be replaced every two years. But a person familiar with the operations on the Russian Railways said he could operate for years without assistance. Russian Railways did not respond to a request for comment. IBM declined to comment. SAP also told Reuters that because some customers have its software installed on their computers, they can continue to use it regardless of the company’s decision not to provide support. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Paresh Dave in Auckland, California and Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, California. Additional references from Nandita Bose in Washington, Foo Yun Chee in Brussels and Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm. Edited by: Kenneth Li and Daniel Flynn Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
