The company said in a statement on Thursday it will stop exports and cease most operations in Russia except for vital electrical power facilities. It did not mention any communication with the Ukrainian government.
“We took multiple factors including the supply chain situation into account when we came to the decision to suspend our operations in Russia,” a spokesperson for Hitachi told Reuters.
Hitachi produces and sells construction machinery in Russia, but had received a letter from the vice prime minister of Ukraine asking for operations to be suspended following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Nikkei report said.
“I urge (Hitachi) to stop supplying products and providing services in Russia when their tanks and missiles kill peaceful Ukrainians,” a tweet posted on Tuesday from an account under the name of Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov read.
Pictures of a letter addressed to Hitachi CEO Toshiaki Higashihara were also attached to the tweet.
The Hitachi spokesperson said the company could not confirm whether the company had received a letter from Fedorov, but said that the company had been addressed by his account on Twitter.
The Ukrainian embassy in Japan could not be immediately reached for comment.