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SWEDEN AND RUSSIA

Swedish engineering giant ABB to quit Russia over Ukraine

Swedish-Swiss engineering giant ABB said on Thursday it will quit Russia as a result of the war in Ukraine and the related international sanctions against Moscow.

Swedish engineering giant ABB to quit Russia over Ukraine
A worker at Hitachi ABB Powergrids in Ludvika. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg / TT

Russia accounts for only one or two percent of ABB’s overall annual turnover and the decision to pull out will have an estimated financial impact in the second quarter of around $57 million, the group calculated.

“ABB has decided to exit the Russian market due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and impact of related international sanctions,” the group said in a statement.

Russia accounts for only one or two percent of ABB’s overall annual sales and the decision to pull out will have an estimated financial impact in the second quarter of around $57 million, the group calculated.

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A large number of major western companies have pulled out of Russia since Moscow invaded its pro-Western neighbour on February 24.

“When the war broke out, ABB stopped taking new orders in Russia,” the group said.

At the same time, it said it continued to fulfill “a small number of existing contractual obligations with local customers, in compliance with applicable sanctions.”

Most of ABB’s dedicated Russian workforce has been on leave since March “and the company will do its best to support them as it realigns its operations in a controlled manner,” it said.

ABB has about 750 people in Russia and two production sites in the country located in the Moscow region and Lipetsk, as well as several service centres.

Separately, the group said that its net profit fell by 50 percent to $379 million in the second quarter, largely as a result of one-off charges, but also the cost of withdrawing from Russia.

Sales, on the other hand, grew by six percent to $7.2 billion in the period from April to June, ABB said.

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STRIKES

Swedish court denies Tesla motion over postal dispute as strike spreads across Nordics

A Swedish court denied a motion by Tesla to temporarily force a mail carrier to deliver licence plates, despite joining strike action against the electric carmaker.

Swedish court denies Tesla motion over postal dispute as strike spreads across Nordics

Since October 27th, some 130 mechanics at 10 Tesla repair shops in seven Swedish cities have been striking to protest against the carmaker’s refusal to sign a collective agreement with the metalworkers union IF Metall.

The strike has since grown into a larger conflict between Tesla and almost a dozen unions seeking to protect Sweden’s labour model, including postal workers.

As licence plates for new cars are only delivered by mail in Sweden, the blockade could stop new Teslas hitting the road there, something Tesla CEO Elon Musk branded “insane”.

In late November, Tesla filed lawsuits against the Swedish Transport Agency and mail carrier Postnord, which is owned by the Swedish and Danish states, to compel them to hand over licence plates and mail to the carmaker.

Tesla also asked the court to force Postnord to hand over some deliveries, including licence plates, while the case was pending.

“Very specific conditions are required to make such a decision and that requirement is not met,” judge Patrik Alm of the Solna district court said in a statement.

Tesla originally saw some success with its lawsuits as a separate district court issued a provisional ruling last week that the transport agency should allow Tesla to pick up licence plates directly from the manufacturer.

The ruling was however appealed, with the appellate court on Tuesday suspending the district court’s decision.

Tesla has long rejected calls to allow the company’s 127,000 employees worldwide to unionise.

However, collective agreements with unions are the basis of the Swedish labour market model, covering almost 90 percent of all employees and guaranteeing wages and working conditions.

Some 50,000 Teslas are registered in the country of 10.5 million inhabitants.

This week, the strike also started spreading to neighbouring countries and on Thursday the Finnish transport workers union AKT announced it would start blocking the loading of Tesla cars onto ships bound for Swedish ports, starting December 20.

“It is a crucial part of the Nordic labour market model that we have collective agreements and unions support each other,” Ismo Kokko, president of AKT, said in a statement.

The move comes after similar announcements by unions in Denmark and Norway earlier in the week.

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