The German sports company Puma said Saturday it would temporarily shutter its shops in Russia, following other retailers and businesses in suspending their operations after the invasion of Ukraine.
The outfitter, based in Herzogenaurach in Germany, said in a statement it had “decided to suspend operations of all its stores in Russia”, after a similar announcement earlier on Saturday by the Spanish clothing giant Inditex, owner of Zara.
“Less than four percent” of the German sportswear company’s revenue came from Russia, a spokeswoman for Puma told AFP, with the global figure coming to 6.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion) in 2021.
Puma will “continue to pay the full salary of our employees” at “more than 100” retail locations across the country, the spokeswoman said.
The German brand on Thursday said it would “suspend its contract With the Russian Basketball Federation”, after the decision of the International Olympic Committee to recommend the exclusion of Russian athletes from international competition.
Puma becomes the latest in a spate of major German companies to announce the suspension of their business activities in Russia, including the auto groups Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
