Lego closes Russia business indefinitely, lays off 90 staff

Lego bricks logo is observed at a toy retail store in Bonn, Germany, September 5, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

MOSCOW/LONDON, July 12 (Reuters) – Lego is closing its company in Russia indefinitely and laying off its 90 Moscow-dependent workers, owing to “in depth disruption” in the state, the Danish toymaker mentioned on Tuesday.

Lego has terminated its contract with franchisee Ingenious Retail Group (IRG) which owned and operated 81 retailers on Lego’s behalf.

IRG, which also operated retailers in Russia for Western makes these kinds of as Nike and Samsung, reported previously on Tuesday that the agreement with Lego experienced been terminated.

“LEGO Group has made a decision to indefinitely cease industrial functions in Russia given the continued comprehensive disruption in the running environment,” a Lego spokesperson claimed.

An IRG spokesperson stated: “Our enterprise will keep on to function as an skilled in the toy design and growth class.”

Lego paused shipments to Russia in March and reported in June it was temporarily freezing some stores because of to offer issues. read additional

The Russian edition of Inc. Magazine reported before on Tuesday that Lego was halting commercial things to do in Russia indefinitely and breaking off its contract with IRG.

Corporations which include Nike (NKE.N) and Cisco (CSCO.O) have introduced their departures from Russia in recent weeks as the speed of Western firms leaving accelerates just after Russia sent troops into Ukraine in February in what it terms a “special procedure”. read through additional

Reporting by Reuters and Richa Naidu in London Editing by Jan Harvey and Bernadette Baum

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Believe in Concepts.