Western companies scramble to evacuate staff from Ukraine Business

CMS, a London-based international law firm, has helped some of its employees relocate from its Kyiv office to EU countries. The company declined to confirm how many employees have been relocated, but said it has a ‘dedicated team’ to help colleagues and continues to ‘explore arrangements in a rapidly changing situation. “.

A CMS spokesperson said: “While our lines of communication remain open, we have made the decision to close our Kyiv office until further notice.

“Our thoughts are with our colleagues, customers and friends at this difficult time. Like many, we hope for a peaceful resolution to this dispute.”

Baker McKenzie, one of the world’s largest law firms, also closed its Kyiv office “until the situation stabilizes”.

Nestlé said it has temporarily closed its factories, warehouses and other parts of its supply chain in Ukraine.

Staff had been asked to stay at home. Nestlé has contingency plans which mean the company should soon be able to restart operations in the country.

Moldova’s airspace was also closed after Russian forces reportedly landed in the country. Commercial airlines have been avoiding Belarusian airspace since May last year following the forced landing of a Ryanair flight.

A Wizz Air spokesperson said: “We will evacuate, as soon as possible, all of our Ukraine-based crew, their immediate families and any families of Wizz Air Ukrainian nationals who wish to leave the country.”

The closure of airspace in Ukraine and neighboring countries will be a blow to low-cost carriers who have seen the region as a key growth area.

Ryanair had planned to quadruple the number of people it flies to Ukraine to 4 million this year. The airline said Thursday it remains committed to the country and looks forward to restarting services as soon as it is safe to do so.

Budapest-based Wizz, which focuses on Central and Eastern European routes, said Ukraine was “an important part of our growth plans”.

Shares of the FTSE 250 airline fell 14% on news of the Russian invasion. Easyjet and British Airways owner IAG were both around 8% lower.

Ryanair shares were 5% lower in Dublin. A spokesperson for the Irish carrier said: “Due to the closure of Ukrainian airspace overnight and the apparent invasion by Russian forces, all Ryanair flights to/from Ukraine have been suspended for at least the next 14 days.

“All affected passengers will receive email notices later this morning and all flights to/from Ukraine have been withdrawn from sale for at least the next four weeks.”