Finnish chemical company Kemira to exit Russia

(Reuters) -Finland's Kemira will withdraw from the Russian market and shut down operations there in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the chemical company said on Friday.

Kemira's 45 employees in Russia have focused on selling chemicals that the company exported to Russia, mainly for the pulp and paper industry, Vice President of Investor Relations Mikko Pohjala told Reuters.

"Of course this unfortunately leads to impacts on personnel in line with local legislation," Pohjala told Reuters.

Sales in Russia accounted for 3% of Kemira's revenue in 2021.

(Reporting by Boleslaw Lasocki; editing by Kim Coghill and Jason Neely)