Puma shuts down stores in Russia following Ukraine invasion

German sports company Puma have confirmed it would temporarily shutter its shops in Russia and suspend their operations following the former's invasion of Ukraine.

The German-based outfit said in a statement it had "decided to suspend operations of all its stores in Russia," after a similar announcement earlier on Saturday by the Spanish clothing giant Inditex, owner of Zara.

"Less than four percent" of the German sportswear company's revenue came from Russia, a spokeswoman for Puma told AFP, with the global figure coming to 6.8 billion euros ($7.4 billion) in 2021.

"Puma will "continue to pay the full salary of our employees" at "more than 100" retail locations across the country." a spokesperson said.

Already, German brand on Thursday March 3, said it would "suspend its contract With the Russian Basketball Federation", after the decision of the IOC ( International Olympic Committee) to recommend the exclusion of Russian athletes from international competition.

Puma becomes the latest of major German companies to announce the suspension of their business activities in Russia, joining the likes of popular auto groups such as : Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz and follows fellow sportswear brand Nike in suspending their business in Russia.