TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwanese personal computer maker ASUS said on Monday that its shipments to Russia are at an “effective standstill” and that it abides by international regulations, after a Ukraine minister asked it to leave the country.
Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister and minister of digital transformation, tweeted a letter on Thursday to ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih calling on the company to end its business in Russia. Moscow has invaded Ukraine in what the Russian government calls a “special military operation”.
“@ASUS, Russians have no moral right to use your brilliant technology! It’s for peace, not for war!” Fedorov said in a separate tweet.
The company, formally called ASUSTeK Computer Inc, said in a statement that it was “deeply concerned about the growing humanitarian crisis in Ukraine”.
“ASUS routinely abides by all international regulations, and this situation – combined with complex challenges across supply chain, logistics and banking, plus other factors – has created an effective standstill of shipments to the Russian market,” it added.
The company will donate T$30 million ($1.05 million) to the Taiwanese relief agency which is in charge of humanitarian donations for Ukraine, it said.
“We hope that peace will be restored soon and timely humanitarian aid will reach everyone in distress.”
Speaking earlier in the day Taiwan Economy Minister Wang Mei-hua, asked about the letter, said Taiwan stands with other democracies and has taken action against Russia, but could not comment on what individual companies were doing.
Wang said her “initial understanding” was that the company would conduct “relevant business and personnel evacuation as soon as possible” following the outbreak of the war.
Her ministry later clarified she was talking about Ukraine, not Russia.
ASUS has faced calls on its social media channels for a boycott after the letter was tweeted, and began being picked up by Taiwanese media late on Saturday.
Russia is not a big market for any major Taiwanese firm.
ASUS has a Russian sales unit, though it has similar units all over the world, and in Ukraine it has a product support unit, its latest quarterly report said.
($1 = 28.4620 Taiwan dollars)
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Additional reporting by Sarah Wu; Editing by Kenneth Maxwell and Barbara Lewis)
