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Ukraine president namechecks software giants to end support in Russia

Oracle states it is agreeing to request while SAP and Microsoft decline to comment

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on the world's largest software vendors to end support for Russian customers, companies and government organisations.

Oracle stated on Twitter that it is ending support for Russian users, while German application giant SAP and Microsoft look set to continue supporting customers in Russia, despite expressing opposition to the invasion of Ukraine and support for the eastern European nation.

Zelenskyy took to Twitter on Sunday, saying: "Now can be no 'half' decisions or 'halftones'! There is only black and white, good or evil! You are either for peace or support the bloody Russian aggressor to kill Ukrainian children and women. @Microsoft @Oracle @SAP, stop supporting your products in Russia, stop the war!"

Oracle responded by saying it had ended all operations in the Russian Federation. "Access to support has been cut off and software updates and patches are no longer available for download. Oracle has suspended all consulting and advanced customer support services," it said in a tweet.

Big Red also said it suspended all Russian partners and their subsidiaries within the Oracle Partner Network from doing business in or outside of Russia. Meanwhile, Oracle products and services were not authorized for "export, re-export, transfer to, or use in Russia". It was not exploring alternatives avenues for support.

Oracle's Russian customers include Sberbank, the majority state-owned institution, which uses a Siebel customer relationship management (CRM) system supporting 170,000 users.

Earlier this month Oracle said it had "suspended all operations in the Russian Federation" but did not offer clarification on the subject of support. It has declined the opportunity to say why it took weeks to explain its position.

Sberbank is also among SAP's customers in Russia. Others include Russian airline company, Aeroflot. On March 4, SAP updated a statement by CEO Christian Klein condemning the war in Ukraine to say: "We will continue to serve our existing customers within the scope of our contractual commitments and as far as sanctions and export control restrictions permit, but we will not accept new orders or solicit new business."

The statement has since been changed again, but a snapshot is available here.

Microsoft has also published a statement condemning Russia's "unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion" of Ukraine. It said it would end "suspend all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia" but has declined to answer questions about ongoing support.

Microsoft's Russian customers include major food retailer Magnit, for which it is implementing Azure cloud services, Microsoft 365, and Power BI from Microsoft. ®

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