What will be the impact of the war in Ukraine on global corporations? A recent Reuters update summarizes the exposures that will face companies in Europe and Japan and the anticipated impact as of last week. Of course, the situation is changing day by day and hour by hour.

JAPANESE COMPANIES:

HITACHI LTD, CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT & POWER GRID BUSINESSES: The conglomerate has five engineering bases in Ukraine of GlobalLogic, which it acquired last year, and roughly 7,200 staff working in places including Kyiv and northeastern Kharkiv.

JAPAN TOBACCO, FIVE FACTORIES IN RUSSIA:Japan’s former tobacco monopoly relies on the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Russia and Belarus, for about a fifth of its profits.Japan Tobacco (2914.T) employs about 4,000 people at its Russian plants, and its tax payments in 2020 accounted for 1.4% of the Russian Federation state budget, the company said on its website.

MARUBENI CORP, TRADER WITH VARIOUS BUSINESS INTERESTS:The Japanese trading house has offices in the Ukraine capital Kyiv and in Dnipro in the east that trade in chemicals and fertilizers and distribute Hitachi Construction Machinery mining equipment.

MITSUBISHI CORP, TRADER WITH VARIOUS BUSINESS INTERESTS: It distributes Mitsubishi Motor (7211.T) vehicles through some 141 dealerships in Russia and has a stake Sakhalin II gas and oil development project that supplies Japan with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and trades coal, aluminium, nickel, coal, methanol, plastics and other material. It also supplies power plant equipment and other machinery.

RAKUTEN, OWNER OF MESSAGING APP VIBER USED IN UKRAINE: The e-commerce firm said it is “focused on maintaining connectivity for Viber users everywhere”. The app is used by 97% of Ukrainian smartphone users and the Japanese firm operates an office in Odessa with contractors and in Kyiv.

SBI HOLDINGS, OWNS SBI BANK IN RUSSIA:SBI Bank, established almost three decades ago, offers corporate services and loans to Japanese companies expanding operations in Russia.

TOYOTA, AUTOMAKER WITH FACTORY IN SAINT PETERSBURG: The company’s operations were unaffected, a spokesperson said. Toyota’s (7203.T) plant in Russia makes Camry and RAV4 vehicles, and it has a sales office in Moscow. It has about 2,600 people, including 26 Japanese nationals, at those locations.

EUROPEAN COMPANIES:

BASF, GERMAN CHEMICALS MAKER WITH 1% SALES FROM RUSSIA:“All employees in Ukraine are requested to work from home where possible and to avoid business travel. All of our employees in Russia continue to work as normal,” BASF (BASFn.DE) said in a statement.

COCA-COLA HBC, LONDON-LISTED BOTTLER WITH RUSSIAN OPERATIONS: “We have contingencies in place for all scenarios, including alternative sourcing, so that we can act swiftly,” Zoran Bogdanovic, chief executive of Coca-Cola HBC (CCH.L), told Reuters. read more

DANONE, WHICH GETS 6% SALES FROM RUSSIA “Our local teams are monitoring the situation very closely with a view to ensure the security of employees,” a Danone (DANO.PA) spokesperson said. The French company is the world’s largest yoghurt company and controls Russian dairy brand Prostokvashino. It mainly produces dairy products in Russia.

NESTLE, FOOD GROUP WITH FACTORIES IN RUSSIA“(We) have business continuity plans in place that can be activated as needed. The safety and protection of our employees remains our highest priority. We will not speculate on any potential sanctions,” a Nestle (NESN.S) spokesperson said.As of 2020, the company had six factories in Russia, including plants making confectionary and drinks. Its 2020 sales from Russia were worth about $1.7 billion.

NESTE, FINNISH REFINER AND BUYER OF RUSSIAN OIL: “If sanctions are aimed at Russian crude oil and oil products, it will have an impact on the oil market globally. It is very difficult to define those impacts at this stage,” Sami Oja, interim leader of the oil products business at Neste (NESTE.HE), told Reuters. “If there were no Russian oil available, Neste would buy its crude oil in other markets.” The company relies on Russia for two thirds of its oil needs.”A significant part of Neste’s crude oil purchases are made on so-called spot markets, meaning one load at a time, and therefore we are able to react flexibly to changes in the markets in our purchases if necessary,” he said.

NOKIAN TYRES, WHICH HAS A PLANT AND WAREHOUSE IN RUSSIA:“We prepare for different scenarios as part of our normal risk-management work, and now we have intensified the work due to the current geopolitical situation, including availability planning,” a spokesperson said. Nokian (TYRES.HE) was prepared to transfer certain product groups between factories if the situation required.

RENAULT, WHICH HAS RUSSIAN JOINT VENTURE AVTOVAZ: Russian carmaker Avtovaz (AVAZI_p.MM), controlled by France’s Renault (RENA.PA), is seeking alternative supplies of electronic chips in case U.S. sanctions curb deliveries, Avtovaz CEO said, without indicating how Avtovaz secures chips for its car plants in Russia.

“At this stage, it is premature to estimate what could be the sanctions,” a Renault spokesperson said. read more

VOLKSWAGEN, GERMAN AUTOMAKER:“The degree of impact on our business activities in the affected countries is continuously determined. Regarding all activities on site, the safety and integrity of our employees is our top priority,” the company (VOWG_p.DE) said in a statement.