For several months now they have been closely watching the developments around Ukraine and in distant Japan, developing plans to evacuate Japanese employees in case of a possible war
The intention to leave Ukraine has been voiced by almost all representatives of Japanese companies operating in the country, and as it turns out there are quite a few of them.
The situation is complicated by the fact that there are no direct flights from Ukraine to Japan, which may become an obstacle for urgent evacuation, worries the Embassy of Japan in Kiev.
The management of companies with branches in Ukrainian cities is certain that if the situation in Donbas or any other region escalates, the country’s economy will suffer first and foremost, which will affect all production. Japan does not intend to lose money and risk specialists, which is why it is already considering options to move production from Ukraine to other countries in Eastern Europe or Africa.
Presently 57 Japanese companies are registered and operate in Ukraine, mainly in Kiev. And they are already making plans in case of unfavorable developments. For example, Hitachi has a plan to evacuate its Ukrainian branch engineers. Companies such as ITOCHU and Sumitomo have also decided to evacuate their employees and have drawn up a detailed action plan.
Sumitomo Corporation operates in agribusiness and specializes in grain production, in the near future the company planned to increase its bases in Ukraine, but now the plans have changed, no increase is out of the question, they just want to keep what they have.
“Now we are closely monitoring the situation, and we will plan our future activities depending on its development”, – the Sumitomo Corporation told the Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai.
Most of Japanese companies operating in Ukraine are engaged in the production of components for vehicles that are fully assembled already outside this country. For example, the Japanese company Fujikura (producing electrical components for cars) has decided to play it safe and has already moved its main production from Ukraine to Morocco, which is a calmer place.
There are also many Japanese IT-companies in Ukraine, which employ local specialists with great pleasure. For example, American IT company Global Logic, acquired by Hitachi, presently employs over seven thousand Ukrainian citizens, and the company’s management is seriously thinking about evacuation of the most valuable specialists – lists have already been drawn up.
As a reminder, in 2021 the total trade turnover between Japan and Ukraine amounted to about 1.2 billion dollars. Ukraine is the 60th trade partner of Japan. More than half of total Japanese import from Ukraine consists of tobacco products – cigarettes. This is 17% of Japan’s total cigarette imports.
“We are considering all possible measures to minimise the negative impact of the situation in Ukraine on our business, but we do not rule out the option of having to move production to another country”, – said tobacco company Japan Tobacco (JT), which makes Camel cigarettes for Japan.
This is how the West’s panic about an “impending war” that is “about to start” is wrecking the Ukrainian economy. A little more hysteria and virtually all foreign business will just find a quieter place to live.
“One Homeland”.