No co that has announced exit from Russia has dismissed employees in St. Petersburg yet - city

ST. PETERSBURG. March 14 (Interfax) - Foreign companies that have announced that they are leaving the Russian market or suspending operations have not notified the St. Petersburg authorities yet of any upcoming dismissals or layoffs of employees, the chairman of the city labor and employment committee, Dmitry Cherneiko told Interfax.

"So far there have not been official statements and official actions that would lead to downsizing and dismissals. But we are, naturally, preparing for them," he said.

He recalled that companies are required by law to warn the authorities of major employee decisions. "If there are mass layoffs, it is necessary to notify labor unions and government employment services three months ahead of time. So far there have not been such notifications from anyone," Cherneiko said.

Neither have there been reports of violations of labor and employment laws by western companies, he said. "So far everyone is complying with the requirements of Russian law," Cherneiko said.

However, there have been statements about possible downtime, he said. "They are all being checked by us and by the State Labor Inspectorate. In industry, trade, food services and hotels, this information is also being checked by employees of the industry committee," Cherneiko said.

The suspension of operations at auto plants in St. Petersburg will not lead to their complete closure, he said. "Toyota is not going anywhere, Korean producers are not going anywhere. For St. Petersburg this is sufficient," Cherneiko said.

He acknowledged that there could be temporarily problems at auto plants due to sanctions. "There might be small disruptions and hiccups, but solutions are visible and new chains are already being worked out," Cherneiko said.

Major foreign companies with a presence in St. Petersburg have announced they are leaving the Russian market or suspending operations, including Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan, South Korea's Hyunday, Sweden's IKEA, Germany's OBI, Finnish supermarket chain Prisma and Sokos hotels, Nike, Reebok and Adidas, Japan's Uniqlo, fashion retailers H&M and Zara, fast food chain McDonald's, Danish brewer Carlsberg and Finland's Fazer.