Ukraine’s anti-corruption watchdog has put Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, its founder and CEO Lei Jun, as well as a dozen other company executives on its list of “international war sponsors”, accusing the Beijing-based firm of maintaining business in Russia despite its military actions, South China Morning Post reported.
“The reason for inclusion in the list … was that the company not only continued its work in the Russian Federation after the full-scale invasion [of Ukraine], but is still the leader in smartphone sales in the terrorist state,” Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) said in the statement on Thursday.
“Xiaomi Corp is sponsoring the military aggression of a terrorist state and must bear both the reputational and legal consequences of its actions,” the NACP added.
Xiaomi on Friday denied that it supports any war actions. It said it adheres to all laws and regulations in every jurisdiction it operates.
“Xiaomi is a consumer electronics company, offering products solely for civilian and commercial use,” the company said in response to a Post inquiry. “We believe that every consumer in the world has the right to access communication tools and information on the internet … Our mission is to let everyone in the world enjoy a better life through innovative technologies.”
Hundreds of global brands pulled out of Russia after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Both Apple and Samsung Electronics stopped selling smartphones and other gadgets in Russia a week later.
The exodus has created a vast vacuum in the Russian market for a range of consumer goods. As the rouble went into free fall, Russian shoppers scrambled to stock up on essential electronic devices, sending sales of Chinese smartphones from Huawei Technologies Co, Oppo and Vivo soaring.
By the end of last year, Xiaomi was the top smartphone vendor in Russia, holding more than half of the market, according to a report by CNN citing data from Counterpoint Research. That compares with the third quarter of 2021, when Xiaomi had a market share of 26 per cent, trailing Samsung’s 34 per cent, according to data from market research firm IDC.
