Global consultancy giant AECOM has announced that it is immediately exiting its business operations in Russia. The company’s decision follows a number of similar moves by consultancy firms including Turner & Townsend, Gleeds and the ‘big four’ firms of EY, Deloitte, KPMG and PwC.

Commenting on the decision, Troy Rudd, AECOM’s chief executive officer, said: “We support the people of Ukraine who are facing tremendous suffering as a result of Russia’s unlawful invasion. Russia’s actions are inconsistent with AECOM’s values and have compromised the business environment for AECOM, our clients and our joint activities in Russia.

“For AECOM, the impact of these actions is particularly unfortunate for our colleagues from our Russia business and we have taken steps to provide them support during this transition. As always, our priority continues to be ensuring the safety, security and well-being of our teams throughout the region.”

The firm, which last year had global revenues of $13.3bn, has two offices in Russia, in the capital Moscow and St Petersburg, employing around 350 people. AECOM will impair the assets of its Russia-related business and expects to incur a one-time pre-tax expense of $40m to $50m in the fiscal second quarter. This impact will be excluded from adjusted earnings. The overall cash impact from the company’s withdrawal from Russia is expected to be around $10m.

Commenting on Turner & Townsend’s decision to pull out of Russia, the company’s chairman and CEO Vincent Clancy said: “We condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting loss of innocent lives. This war goes entirely against our values as a business, and we hope that a peaceful resolution can be found as swiftly as possible.

“Our team in Russia has been an important part of our business for many years. They work alongside our global colleagues, primarily serving multinational organisations. It is therefore with great sadness that we have taken the decision to close our operations in Russia and begin the process of fully withdrawing from the market, effective from today. We are continuing to provide support to our people based there.”

Earlier this week, EY and Deloitte joined KPMG and PwC in cutting off their businesses in Russia and Belarus. KPMG has more than 4,500 workers and partners in Russia and Belarus, while PwC has 3,700, EY has 4,700, and Deloitte has 3,000. Both KPMG and PwC confirmed that the businesses in Russia would no longer be able to use their brands or name once separated.