Firm part-owned by Sunak’s wife withdraws from Russia amid scrutiny
Infosys, an Indian tech giant which is part owned by the UK Chancellor’s wife, is shutting down its operations in Russia following backlash.
It is understood that Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty’s, possesses shares worth more than £400m in the company which was founded by her father. Infosys plans to shut down its Moscow office and find replacement roles abroad for local staff, the BBC first reported.
Infosys has faced pressure to cease operations in Moscow as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK’s chancellor, who has called on British firms to pull out of Russia, has been challenged by media and opposition MPs about Murty’s 0.91 per cent stake in the firm,
“I’m not attacking their family – I don’t agree with that way of doing politics,” Labour leader Keir Starmer told Sky News today.
“But I do want to know: is the chancellor’s household benefiting from money from a company that’s investing in Russia when the government is saying – quite rightly – that nobody should be doing that, sanctions should be in place?” he continued.
Sunak said that while he considers himself to be “fair game” for criticism he found undue scrutiny of his wife “very upsetting,” in comments to BBC Newscast. The Chancellor added that he understood how Will Smith felt when Chris Rock made a joke about his wife’s alopecia at the Oscar’s ceremony.
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