Hugo Boss has joined the list of Western brands that have left the Russian market due to the conflict in Ukraine by selling its Russian business to wholesale partner Stockmann for an unknown sum.

The German design house quickly stopped selling retail clothing in Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It also stopped advertising and put a halt to its online business ventures in the Russian market.

“We can confirm that our Russian subsidiary has been sold to Stockmann JSC – a company belonging to one of Hugo Boss’s long-standing wholesale partners in the country,” Hugo Boss said.

The financial details of the agreement have not been made public by either party, although Russia requires that foreign corporations sell their holdings at least 50 per cent off.

According to Russian corporate papers, Stockmann JSC now owns 100 per cent of Hugo Boss Rus, with a nominal value of 40 million roubles (US $ 470,588). The acquisition closed on 2nd August. A network of civil society organisations called B4Ukraine is working to force Western businesses to cut their connections with Russia.

“In terms of our wholesale business, we were fulfilling the contractual obligations to our partners,” Hugo Boss said in April. “In this context, Hugo Boss is and has been complying with existing EU sanctions at all times.” Stockmann in Russia operates independently from its former Finnish owner, which sold its Russian business after Moscow’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.