Omnicom to pull operations from Russia

Omnicom will withdraw its operations from Russia as it works with local partners to “dispose" of all of its “investment positions,” according to a statement by the company. Omnicom’s transfer of ownership in the region will take effect “within days,” a spokeswoman for Omnicom confirmed.

The holding company has 2,000 employees in the country. 

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“We have been planning an orderly process to ensure continuity of services for clients and to provide a future for our Russian colleagues, some who have been with Omnicom for decades. We expect to finalize the details shortly,” the agency said in a statement.

The holding company declined to disclose how much of its revenue comes from its Russian operations or specifics on which agencies operate there. Ketchum is known to be one, which put out its own statement today.

"Ketchum will be disposing of its owned operations in Russia. This decision impacts Ketchum’s majority-held office in Moscow, which will no longer be part of the Ketchum-owned network. As soon as formalities are completed, the Moscow office will be independently led by its original founders and minority owners, Michael Maslov and Serguey Chumin, as it was before integrating into the Ketchum network in 2010."

“As the violence and humanitarian crisis continues in Ukraine, our No. 1 priority remains the safety and well-being of our more than 200 colleagues and their families there,” Omnicom said. “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.”

This week has been filled with news of holding companies pulling out of Russia. Over the past two days, Dentsu and Publicis announced plans to transfer ownership of their Russian operations to local partners. At the start of the week, IPG suspended its operations in Russia. WPP and Accenture were ahead of the pack, announcing the suspension of their business in the country earlier this month. A week later  Stagwell also announced it will halt operations for its 10-person office in Russia.

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Havas provided a statement this week as well claiming that while it doesn’t operate directly in Russia, it has a local partner in the country. “We have committed to freezing all new investments in the country until a peaceful resolution can be reached,” Havas said in a statement.