Ukraine conflict impact statement

Updated 20 April 2022

Company position

We are shocked and saddened by the current situation in Ukraine. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is an abhorrent act which profoundly conflicts with our values and everything that we stand for as an organisation.

In light of the above and current controls, we have put Russia and Belarus on our list of embargoed countries. Westcon-Comstor will not conduct any transaction involving a partner, end-user or delivery address connected to Russia or Belarus. We will continue to closely monitor the situation.

Supply chain impact

Unfortunately, we are unable to transact in Ukraine at present due to the suspension of logistics services from our transportation partners. Moreover, we foresee impacts and disruptions to our European and possibly global supply chain routes due a number of factors stemming from the war. These include disruptions to fuel supply chains, a shortage in available truck drivers in Europe (many of whom are Ukrainian) and other parts and services disruptions. Our transportation partners are also facing significant cost increases due the rapidly increasing price of fuel and these are being passed through as a fuel surcharge which is lifting our freight charges to our channel partners and their customers.

Westcon-Comstor is committed to working diligently to find alternative options which will help bypass the supply chain disruptions and reduce the impact of the increased fuel costs on the price of freight and transportation. Today our team is focused on securing critical air freight capacity, expediting shipments and routing or re-routing shipments to meet critical customer needs. Moreover, through executive level engagements with our strategic vendors, the Westcon-Comstor leadership and supply chain teams are focused on maximising inventory stock levels and getting visibility of product availability and delivery lead times for constrained products while reviewing and recommending potential product substitutions when appropriate.

If you have any questions, please contact your Westcon-Comstor representative.

FAQs

Does Westcon-Comstor carry out business with customers and end users in Russia or Belarus?
Historically, Westcon-Comstor has only carried out a small amount of transactions with customers in Russia and Belarus.

Since the start of war in Ukraine, we have taken the step of putting both countries on embargo block and will not be carrying out any transactions with customers, end users or delivery addresses that are located there.

Is Westcon-Comstor able to carry out business with customers and end users in Ukraine?
We are unable to transact in Ukraine at present due to the suspension of logistics services from our transportation partners. Additionally, Westcon-Comstor is legally prohibited from trading in Crimea, Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR).

Can Westcon-Comstor provide professional services to end users and customers in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine?
Westcon will not be providing end users and customers in Russia or Belarus with any professional services at this time.

Due to practical difficulties, it will not be possible to provide on-site professional services to end users and customers in Ukraine at present.

Is Westcon-Comstor operating in compliance with the sanctions on Russia and Belarus?
As part of our regular export screening process, Westcon-Comstor screens the end user in all transactions against 100+ sanction and control lists, including the lists published by the US Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), UK, EU and UN. We will also be re-screening all existing customers and end users against these lists.

Does Westcon-Comstor have any vendors in Russia or Belarus?
Westcon-Comstor does not use Russian or Belarusian vendors for stock items. The vast majority of our vendor contracts are with US-headquartered vendors.

Does Westcon-Comstor use products from Russian, Belarusian or Ukrainian suppliers in its IT infrastructure?
Westcon-Comstor does not use products from Russian or Belarusian suppliers in its IT infrastructure. Additionally, due to the operational and cyber risks associated with Ukrainian suppliers at present, we have also checked and confirmed that we are not using Ukrainian suppliers in our IT infrastructure.

What measures does Westcon-Comstor have in place to ensure cyber security readiness?
Westcon-Comstor has several measures in place to protect from cyber security threats, including but not limited to:

Working daily with all impacted vendors, monitoring all constrained products, and enhancing our inventory safety stock levels based on lead-time extensions.
Liaising with our global transport partners to improve transit times, expedite shipments and secure critical air freight capacity. Our logistics teams will receive alerts of constrained products/inventory to expedite processing through our logistics centres and make product available.
Continuous review of the supply chain to provide visibility of ongoing product availability and delivery performance, monitoring lead-times for constrained products and reviewing potential product substitutions.
We also continue to review the use of refurbished hardware under the terms of our vendor partners’ circular technology and recycling programmes which may afford opportunities for reduced lead times for certain equipment types. Please ask your Westcon-Comstor representative for details of these programmes.
Open and transparent communication of these impacts with our customers.

Does Westcon-Comstor have any investors or owners from Russia or Belarus?
Westcon-Comstor is wholly owned by the Datatec Group which is headquartered in South Africa. Information on Datatec’s shareholders can be found here.

If you have any questions, please contact your Westcon-Comstor representative.

Westcon-Comstor Ukraine conflict impact statement

FAQs