The Swiss manufacturer Swatch Group, which is currently valued at approximately $13 billion, has stopped selling its watches to Russia, joining other global corporations such as Exxon, BP, Shell, Adidas, Apple, and IKEA, which have stated that they are withdrawing from Russia in response to its war in Ukraine.
“Swatch Group is monitoring and analysing the situation very closely. At the moment, we have put exports to Russia on hold,” the company told Arabian Business’ sister-publication, WATCHPRO after the ITP Media Group brand contacted major luxury watch companies requesting a response to the Russia-Ukraine crisis.
Swatch Group, which is home to three of Switzerland’s largest brands – Omega, Longines, and Tissot – as well as historic marques such as Blancpain and Breguet, has made its stand on the Russian-Ukraine conflict clear.
The suspension of exports to Russia, especially among watches, is “significant”, WATCHPRO reported, because of the perceived interest among Russian elites to invest in high value assets following the continued fall of the Russian rouble.
“Swatch Group’s 100% affiliate Swatch Group Russia continues its operations, as well as its activities in order to serve the Russian consumers,” the company clarified.
The rouble has fallen to record lows over the past week, weakening as much as 10% compared to the dollar, making it the first time that the rouble has traded above 110 to the dollar in Moscow.
The CEO of Bulgari, Jean-Christophe Babin (below), told Bloomberg that there is evidence of rising sales in Russia, adding that supplying Russian boutiques may become more difficult because cross-border payments are being hit by sanctions.
Russia’s markets have remained under pressure after the US and its allies moved to block the Bank of Russia’s access to foreign reserves and cut some lenders off from the SWIFT messaging system for global banking.
Meanwhile, oil, energy, metal, and grain prices have soared as Russia’s oil and other resources are shunned. The London Stock Exchange Group Plc, which is the UK’s primary stock exchange, has confirmed that it suspended trading of global depository receipts (GDRs) of several Russia-based companies including Rosneft, Sberbank, Gazprom, En+, and Lukoil.
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