Ericsson to close Russian office by year's end - paper

MOSCOW. Aug 29 (Interfax) - Swedish telecom equipment manufacturer Ericsson plans to close its representative office in Russia by the end of the year and lay off all employees, national daily Kommersant reported on Monday, citing sources.

The company's headquarters notified the Russian division of these plans on August 22, the paper said.

Ericsson will gradually wind down operations in Russia in the next few months as it fulfils obligations to customers, and it will provide "financial and social" support to employees, the paper reported the company as saying.

Ericsson announced on February that it was suspending deliveries to customers in Russia and studying sanctions imposed in response to Russia's military operation in Ukraine. In April, the company announced the indefinite suspension of operations in Russia and put employees on paid leave.

Ericsson supplied telecom equipment to Russia's leading telecom providers, including Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) and Tele2. The company's Russian division, JSC Ericsson Corporation, founded in 1994, closed 2021 with net profit of 533.6 million rubles on revenue of 4.9 billion rubles.