T&T becomes the latest firm to pull out of Russia

Turner & Townsend has become the latest firm to pull out of working in Russia with CEO and chairman Vince Clancy saying it was closing its operations in the country from today.

The firm employs 22 people at an office in the capital Moscow but Clancy said Russia’s decision to invade neighbouring Ukraine last month meant it was now pulling down the shutters on working in the country where it has been since 2004.

He said: “Our team in Russia has been an important part of our business for many years. They work alongside our global colleagues, primarily serving multinational organisations.

“It is therefore with great sadness that we have taken the decision to close our operations in Russia and begin the process of fully withdrawing from the market, effective from today. We are continuing to provide support to our people based there.”

He said the firm, now majority owned by US real estate giant CBRE, condemned the invasion and “the resulting loss of innocent lives. This war goes entirely against our values as a business and we hope that a peaceful resolution can be found as swiftly as possible.”

Yesterday, Aecom said it was pulling out of Russia with immediate effect and expects to take a $50m (£38m) hit as a result.

T&T and Aecom are the latest in a string of firms to pull out of working in the country in the wake of the invasion, which began nearly two weeks ago.

Foster & Partners has stopped working in Russia joining other architects, including David Chipperfield Architects, John McAslan & Partners and LDA Design, in doing so.

Last week, Building revealed a firm part-owned by a Russian oligarch with links to his country’s president, Vladimir Putin, has a major role on building the HS2 project.

Austrian civil engineer Strabag, part of the SCS joint venture which is undertaking more than £2bn worth of tunnelling contracts on the rail megaproject, is 28% owned by Rasperia Trading Ltd, a business itself owned by Russian industrialist Oleg Deripaska.