On Monday, the remaining two big accounting firms confirmed they would end their working relationship with Russia.
In a statement shared to Twitter, EY said it would no longer serve any Russian government clients, state-owned enterprises or sanctioned entities and individuals anywhere in the world.
“EY has commenced a restructuring of its Russian member firm to separate it from the global network,” the company confirmed.
“This is not something we take lightly. This is heartbreaking as we have over 4,700 colleagues in Russia, who have been a part of our global network for over 30 years and worked side by side with our global, Easter European and Ukrainian colleagues,” EY continued.
“As we go through this change, we will work to support those colleagues, as well as our clients in fulfilling our legal obligations and commitments.”
In a similar statement, Deloitte’s global CEO, Punit Renjen, confirmed the firm would separate its practice in Russia and Belarus from the global network of member firms.
“Deloitte will no longer operate in Russia and Belarus,” Mr Renjen said.
“While we know this is the right decision, it will have an impact on Deloitte’s 3,000 professionals located in Russia and Belarus. Like others, we know our colleagues in Russia and Belarus have no voice in the actions of their government. We will support all impacted colleagues during this transition and do all we can to assist them during this extremely difficult time.”
Over the weekend, KPMG announced its Russia and Belarus firms would leave the KPMG network.
“KPMG has over 4,500 people in Russia and Belarus, and ending our working relationship with them, many of whom have been a part of KPMG for many decades, is incredibly difficult.”
In similar vein, PwC said that as a result of the Russian government’s invasion of Ukraine “we have decided that PwC should not have a member firm in Russia and consequently PwC Russia will leave the network”.
PwC’s decision is expected to impact 3,700 PwC Russia employees.
Sanctions imposed on Russia by the UK, US, the EU and Australia are forcing firms to consider their relationship with Russia.
Just last week, several Australian super funds announced they would be limiting their ties to Moscow.
