Amazon is joining the growing Russian tech ban by suspending some retail, merchant, and cloud services to customers in the country.
The sales stoppage means it’ll no longer accept new merchants from Russia and Belarus who want to sell products on Amazon. In addition, the company is suspending Prime Video and halting all e-commerce shipments to customers in Russia.
Amazon’s other major business, AWS, which provides cloud computing services, is also hitting pause on accepting new customers from Russia and Belarus. “Given the ongoing situation in Russia and Ukraine, we’ve taken additional actions in the region,” Amazon says.
Corporations across the industry have been halting business in Russia over the country’s invasion of Ukraine. They include tech giants Microsoft, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, Apple, Netflix, and Electronic Arts, along with corporations like McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks.
In Amazon’s case, the sales stoppage is probably more symbolic since it doesn’t officially operate in Russia. “Amazon and AWS have no data centers, infrastructure, or offices in Russia, and we have a long-standing policy of not doing business with the Russian government,” the company points out. Still, it did offer international shipping to consumers based in the country.
Amazon is also refraining from booting existing Russian merchants or Russian AWS users from its platforms. Instead, the company’s notice merely says new customers in Russia and Belarus will be barred. “Given the current events and the uncertainty and lack of credit available in Russia right now, we’re not accepting new Russian AWS sign-ups at this moment,” the company tells PCMag.
Other companies have taken more drastic action. Two major US internet backbone providers, Cogent Communications and Lumen Technologies, recently terminated all services with their Russian enterprise customers, forcing them to look elsewhere. This has sparked concerns Russia's internet may face congestion problems, preventing local users from accessing the web.