More companies cut ties with Russia amid ongoing invasion of Ukraine

Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer discusses why more companies are distancing their operations from Russia amid the country's war with Ukraine and why Uniqlo has decided to remain open in Russia.

Video transcript

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BRIAN SOZZI: The Russia-Ukraine war is also a financial one, explains Yahoo Finance Editor in Chief Andy Serwer in his latest column. Andy is here with us now. Andy, the names of very large Western companies just pulling operations out of Russia, just no longer doing business with the country, they're really starting to pile up.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah. And Brian, kudos to you and Alexandra Semenova on our team for putting together that story that is sort of, as you suggest, a list that's getting longer and longer, but adding context to it.

And sure, it's a lot of companies. And it might sound easy to do, although it's not so easy to do because you might have salespeople there. You might have long-standing contracts. You might want to exit businesses in Russia but need to find buyers.

So you are seeing though, a tremendous resolve on the part of Western companies, and in particular companies in the United States. You can see some of the names right there. And they extend across all different industries and businesses.

So yeah, it may be a bandwagon that some companies are jumping on. But I think it's actually interesting to see how much pressure these companies are really going to be able to bring to bear to, let's face it, get some change in terms of the direction that Vladimir Putin is taking not only his country but the world.

JULIE HYMAN: It's really interesting too, Andy, because there was one company that caught my eye that is not pulling out of Russia, Uniqlo, the retailer. And reportedly, the CEO of Fast Retailing, which is the parent company, said, "Clothing is a necessity of life. The people of Russia have the same right to live as we do."

Interesting, because sort of painting it as a humanitarian issue. But I do wonder, are there going to be consequences, do you think, for the companies that don't opt to pull out?

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, I mean, and it does make things-- what your comment and what Uniqlo is saying do make things a little more complicated. There is additional context there, because oftentimes, when companies pull out or when there's sanctions, the people that suffer are the ordinary, dare I say, innocent people in Russia.

And but really, if you think about it, I mean, just in terms of sanctions from a government perspective, what choice do we have, sending troops to Ukraine, A, or doing nothing. So we want to do something. This economic-financial war is a very valid course of action.

And there are consequences for these ordinary people. Interesting that Uniqlo is really going out on a limb like this and making a statement. Anything can be humanitarian. Of course, even the Swift system, you could argue, hurts ordinary people, and it probably does. But something has to be done here, right?

BRIAN SOZZI: You're right. And that is a long, lonely limb for Uniqlo. And you can read more from Andy in his latest column now on the Yahoo Finance home page. Andy, thank you so much.