Yesterday, April 13, 2023, through an official press release, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption of theUkraine has listed Xiaomi in the list of international sponsors of the war. Kiev’s accusation comes after the Chinese brand continued to conduct its commercial operations in Russia, even following the invasion.
The company’s response was timely. Reuters reports that Xiaomi would have rejected the accusation, saying it is strongly against the inclusion in the blacklist.
Xiaomi in the blacklist of Ukraine
“While the Russians bombed peaceful Ukrainian cities, Xiaomi managed to increase shipments to the Russian Federation by 39% in the third quarter of 2022,” reads the press release (via Kiev Independent, an English-language Ukrainian news portal).
The site also reports that “Xiaomi is currently the leader in smartphone sales in Russia“, which means that the Russian market is extremely profitable for the Chinese company.
According to the National Corruption Prevention Agency, Xiaomi has not conducted marketing campaigns in Moscow since the spring of 2022. Despite this, the brand is now “actively restarting activities in its Russian offices” and “announced the official start of sales of its flagships” . Precisely for this reason, the government agency believes that Xiaomi is regaining an active presence in the Russian market.
“Xiaomi Corporation is sponsoring the military aggression of a terrorist state and faces both reputational and legal consequences of its actions,” said the National Corruption Prevention Agency.
In addition to Xiaomi, the list includes 20 other companies singled out as “sponsors of the war”.