When Russia attacked Ukraine last February, investors such as Pennsylvania's state pension funds rushed to dump their Russian investments, horrified at the prospect of profiting from the unprovoked invasion.
And firms with Russian and Ukrainian operations, like the Newtown, Pennsylvania-based EPAM — an information technology outsourcing firm which counted more than 20,000 staff in the two countries and neighboring Belarus — rushed to protect staff and cut its exposure, bracing for falling sales and higher costs.
A year later, as the war grinds on, EPAM is still counting the cost of cutting ties to Russia and moving its Ukrainian staff to safer areas. Meanwhile, big defense contractors, such as Boeing's Ridley Park helicopter factory and Pennsylvania-based ammunition makers that supply the U.S. military and its allies, have gained orders as war equipment sales rise.
