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Nintendo Confirms Employment of Russia CEO Who Set Up Shell Company to Continue Game Sales in Russia

Nintendo confirmed with Eurogamer on Thursday that it is still employing its Russian CEO Yasha Haddazhi. Nintendo had earlier made a statement to the news outlet that it has provided its employees in Moscow with individual compensation packages and ended their contracts by mutual agreement.

Russian news outlet Kommersant reported on April 12 that a shell company established by Haddazhi named Achivka recently sold shipments of Metroid Prime Remastered in the Russian market. Eurogamer had reported on Wednesday that Haddazhi had set up a secondary company in the country in order to import and sell Nintendo games in light of the official Russian sales ban on Super Mario Maker. Nintendo stated that it is "not affiliated with Achivka and has no involvement in parallel import activities in Russia."

Nintendo had further elaborated in the statement that it will maintain "minimal presence" in Russia and that it only plans to "fulfil legal, contractual and administrative requirements" with its presence in the country. The company added, "Mr Haddaji remains in a temporary administrative capacity to fulfil various internal administrative functions while winding down the company."

Nintendo suspended its online eShop retail service in Russia in March 2022. The company explained that it put the eShop in Russia temporarily in "maintenance mode" since the payment service it uses has suspended the processing of rubles. Nintendo did not reveal a date for the service's return.

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 after weeks of tense military buildup along their mutual borders and Belarus. Russia claimed to be supporting the independence of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The war has recently taken a turn for the worse, as Russia has intensified shelling of cities, and Ukrainian civilians struggle to either flee the country or prepare for conflict amid rising casualties. Countries around the world have decried the invasion and expressed support for Ukraine. Economic sanctions have fallen on Russia and Belarus in light of the invasion, while artists and creative studios have halted releases of some works in Russia.

Nintendo launched Metroid Prime Remastered, a remastered Switch version of the 2002 Metroid Prime GameCube game, digitally on February 9, the same day as the game's announcment. Physical copies shipped in the West on February 22, and in Japan on March 3.

Source: Eurogamer (Tom Phillips)