Agency holding company Omnicom has announced it is to withdraw from Russia. The firm is the sixth holding company to divest or cut back its operations in the country in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
According to an Omnicom spokesperson, the company plans to divest of all of its local agencies. Omnicom employs 2,000 staff in Russia and 200 in Ukraine.
“We can confirm that Omnicom is withdrawing from Russia and working with local partners to dispose of all of our investment positions,“ they said.
“We have been planning an orderly process to ensure continuity of services for clients and to provide a future for our Russian colleagues, some of whom have been with Omnicom for decades. We expect to finalize details shortly.“
This week, IPG and Dentsu both announcedthat they would formally withdraw from the Russian market. The announcements followed earlier exits by Accenture, WPP and Publicis. Havas has frozen new investments in Russia.
Clients such as Daimler, Volkswagen and Activision had already announced a suspension of sales, or divestment from their operations, in Russia. The spokesperson said the company’s main priority was the safety of staff in Ukraine.
“As the violence and humanitarian crisis continues in Ukraine, our number one priority remains the safety and wellbeing of our more than 200 colleagues and their families there. We are in constant contact with our Ukrainian agency leaders and supporting our people with much needed humanitarian assistance, including transportation, accommodations, visa and working papers, translation services, relocation support, supplies and medical support.
“We continue to keep our affected colleagues in our thoughts and hope for peace.“
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