Logistics
FORWARDERS HALT RUSSIA OPERATIONS AMID UKRAINE CONFLICT
March 4, 2022
Air Cargo

Some of the world's leading air freight forwarders have announced the suspension of their activities in Russia, citing increased supply chain problems in the region as a result of sanctions imposed on Moscow following its invasion on Ukraine.

 

DHL said its inbound services to Russia and Belarus have been suspended until further notice and as a result will not be accepting shipments to those countries.

 

"We are closely monitoring the situation and we will keep you updated about any further developments," it said on March 2.

 

FedEx Corp. have also suspended shipments into Russia amid the country's invasion of Ukraine. In a service alert on its website, the American logistics company said: "We are closely monitoring the situation and have contingency plans in place."

 

Separately, United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) said it is also halting its shipments to and from Ukraine and have temporarily stopped delivering shipments bound for Russia.

 

UPS said that packages en route to Russia and Ukraine will be returned free of charge to the sender if possible.

 

"Our focus is on the safety of our people, providing continued service and minimizing disruption to our customers," UPS said. "UPS continues to closely monitor the situation and will re-establish service as soon as it is practical and safe to do so."

 

In a customer advisory, Kuehne+Nagel (K+N) noted that since most carriers had stopped services to the Russian Federation, the forwarder has also suspended all import shipments into the Russian Federation pending further notice, except for pharma, healthcare and humanitarian supplies.

 

"All goods that were booked before and currently still in transit, are managed to the extent possible," K+N said. "To help our customers navigate the situation, our trade control experts closely observe the development of sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and certain states respectively providing all necessary trade control guidance."

 

DSV announced that shipments to and from Russia and Belarus would also be temporarily halted.

 

"This applies to land, air and ocean transport," it said. "This means that DSV is not taking in new bookings to these countries with the exception of food supplies, medical and humanitarian supplies."

 

It added that all goods currently in transit will be managed to the extent possible via open trade lanes.

 

"Knowing that today's decision to suspend transport to and from Russia and Belarus will further add to the supply chain disruption and complexity for our customers, we want to underline that DSV is fully aware of the impact and that we are doing our utmost to alleviate the negative supply chain effects from these measures," DSV continued.

 

Geodis also halted its services to and from Russia, as well as Belarus.

 

"For customers with current shipments going to or passing through the affected areas, our teams will be reaching out to assess possible alternative transport solutions, in accordance with international regulations and sanctions," Geodis said.

 

German company DB Schenker said it has also stopped operations in Russia.

 

"We have decided to temporarily suspend all shipments to and from Russia with immediate effect. This applies to land, air and ocean transport," it said.