‘Infosys shutting Russia ops, eyes replacement for staff in Moscow’
Software major Infosys is closing down its operations in Russia, according to reports. The move comes just days after Rishi Sunak, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer and the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder NR Narayan Murthy, was accused by the British media of profiting from Russia President Vladimir Putin’s regime.
Britain’s public service broadcaster BBC late night on Friday reported, quoting sources, that Infosys was “trying to find replacement roles abroad for staff employed in Moscow”. Infosys has so far no responded to mails sent by The Sunday Express which sought to know the number of employees it had in Russia and the reasons behind the closure of operations in the country.
The reported shutting down of operations comes about a week after the British media accused Sunak of profiting from the Putin regime as Infosys had ties to local enterprises in Russia. Sunak is married to NR Narayan Murthy’s daughter Akshata Murthy.
In an earlier statement, Infosys had denied having any active business relationships with any local enterprises, and said that the company had committed $1 million towards relief efforts for the victims of war in Ukraine. “Infosys has a small team based out of Russia, that services some of our global clients, locally. We do not have any active business relationships with local Russian enterprises. A key priority for Infosys in times of adversity, is to continue extending support to the community. The company has committed USD 1 million towards relief efforts for the victims of war from Ukraine,” the company had said in a statement last month.
Earlier in March, Sunak had, in a televised statement, asked companies from the UK refrain from making new investments in Russia. “I welcome commitments already made by a number of firms to divest from Russian assets – and I want to make it crystal clear that the government supports further signals of intent. I am urging firms to think very carefully about their investments in Russia and how they may aid the Putin regime — and I am also clear that there is no case for new investment in Russia,” he had said on March 13.
