Amid the continuous fears of being victim to Western sanctions, Chinese tech giant Huawei has moved bunch of its staff from Russia to Central Asia. The following information has been shared by Russian local media, citing sources close to the company.
As per reports, Huawei began relocating Chinese and Russian managers and heads of division to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan following the Russia’s full-scale military operation against Ukraine.
Several local reports have quoted a number of sources as saying, with an unidentified Huawei executive in Russia confirming the information that, “Some Russian managers were ‘sent on long-term business trips’ to these nations.”
As per the reports, Kazakhstan-based staff will be responsible for Huawei’s business development in the entire post-Soviet market, said Denis Kuskov, CEO of the Telecom Daily research agency.
Meanwhile, experts stated that, “The supplier of smartphones, electric equipment and other high-tech gear is likely taking steps to avoid secondary Western sanctions and the loss of its European market.”
At the same time, Mikhail Burmistrov, head of market research firm Infoline Analytics said, “Huawei clearly hears U.S. signals and is building two-tiered infrastructure: relocating all operations to the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) while delivering goods to Russia through parallel imports.”
Huawei temporarily suspended new orders and furloughed Russian staff earlier this year.