Nvidia: We’re Ceasing All Business Activities in Russia

Nvidia has decided to end all business operations in Russia, seven months after stopping all product sales to the country due to the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. 

“We are ceasing all activities and closing our offices in Russia,” the company tells PCMag. 

“After previously suspending shipments to the country, we had continued to maintain our office to support our employees and their families. With recent developments, we can no longer operate effectively there. All employees will be given the option of continuing their jobs in other countries,” the GPU maker says.

Nvidia declined to elaborate. But the statement suggests the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, and the resulting US sanctions, has killed off any business prospects for the GPU maker in the country. 

In early March, Nvidia announced it was stopping all product sales to Russia as numerous tech companies halted shipments to the country following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. In the weeks since, there’s been growing concern the Putin regime will escalate the war as it continues to lose territory to Ukrainian forces. 

Nvidia’s original decision to stop sales, but not end business activities in Russia, also received criticism online. In August, Nvidia’s office in the country reportedly sent a letter to a Ukrainian tech outlet Mezha Media about cooperating on a project. This sparked a harsh response(Opens in a new window) from Mezha Media’s Editor-in-Chief, who questioned why the company still had an office in Russia.

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Despite Nvidia’s decision to halt product sales in Russia, you can still find RTX 3000 graphics cards on sale via Russian(Opens in a new window) retailers(Opens in a new window), although at higher prices. This suggests some GPU vendors are still shipping products to the country, or that Russian retailers are sourcing their supplies from other European countries.