Kyiv Raps Western Executives Over Russian Corporate Roles

"Ukraine is ratcheting up pressure on Western executives who have retained posts at Russian companies.

Many Western executives cut ties with Russia last year.

Others remained for various reasons, including saying they had a fiduciary duty to their investors, a responsibility to local employees or yearslong ties to Russia that were hard to break.

Now, Ukraine's government is running a campaign to name and shame Western individuals still working for Russian companies with the aim of pressuring more to leave.

While executives aren't breaking laws by working at companies that aren't under sanctions from the U.S. or its allies, Ukraine says the continued Western presence in Russian boardrooms risks undermining broader efforts to isolate the country internationally.

"The work of top Western management in Russian companies sends a signal to Russian society and the whole world that Moscow has done nothing wrong," said Agiya Zagrebelska of Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention, which is leading the push to pressure Western executives.

Ukraine has built a database of more than 300 directorships at Russian companies that it says are held by Westerners, and made it publicly available via a website.

German, U.S. and British executives are the most prevalent among those working for Russian companies, with finance and trade the most common industries, the data show.

Kyiv says it is asking Western governments to speak with these executives about their continued role in Russia.

"We would like to see more activity of governments in communicating to these managers the consequences of their decision to continue working in Russia," Ms. Zagrebelska said.

A cadre of veteran Western directors had for years served on the boards of some of Russia's largest companies, providing a bridge to Western partners and investors. Many of those foreign executives resigned last year.

Western governments haven't prevented their citizens from working for nonsanctioned Russian companies, though some discourage it.

A spokesman for Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said the decision is ultimately a commercial one, but the U.K. welcomes companies and executives that help isolate Moscow diplomatically and financially by leaving Russia.

Some Western executives say they have retained ties to Russia to help protect foreign investors and local employees.

One is John Boynton, an American who is chairman and co-founder of Yandex NV, a company dubbed Russia's Google and the country's biggest internet search engine.

In June, the European Union imposed sanctions on Yandex's co-founder and chief executive, Arkady Volozh, saying the company was "responsible for promoting state media and narratives in its search results."

Mr. Volozh stepped down from his role as CEO, but said the sanctions were based on an inaccurate understanding of what Yandex does. Mr. Boynton said he had a duty to the company.

Another group of Western executives retaining connections to Russian companies is those who have longstanding ties to the country. For example, Daniel Wolfe, an American cryptocurrency entrepreneur, sits on the board of online bank Tinkoff and investment firm AFK Sistema, two posts he took up last year. Mr. Wolfe first started working in Russia in 1996.

And other Western executives remain in Russia because their foreign employers still have operations there or are in the process of exiting.

Overall, it isn't clear exactly how many Western executives retain posts at Russian companies. That is partly because Russia's central bank has banned businesses there from publicly naming key personnel in what it said was a bid to minimize the consequences of Western sanctions." [1]

1. World News: Kyiv Raps Western Executives Over Russian Corporate Roles
Macdonald, Alistair; Dummett, Ben.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 02 Feb 2023: A.7.