McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo temporarily suspend business in Russia
DETROIT (USA), Mar 9 (AP) Several global brands such as McDonald’s, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and General Electric have announced they are temporarily suspending their business in Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine .
“According to our principles, we cannot ignore the unnecessary suffering being caused to people in Ukraine,” Chris Kempchinsky, McDonald’s President and CEO, said in a letter to employees.
The Chicago-based burger giant said it would temporarily close 850 stores but would continue to pay its 62,000 employees in Russia who “have put their blood and sweat for our McDonald’s brand.”
“The situation is extremely challenging for a global brand like ours and it is important to consider things,” Kempchinsky said in the letter.
Starbucks also said last Friday that it was donating profits from its 130 Russian stores to humanitarian relief efforts in Ukraine. At the same time, ‘Coca-Cola’ has also announced the suspension of its business in Russia, but did not provide further details in this regard.
Coke’s partner, Switzerland-based Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, has 10 bottling plants in Russia, which is its largest market. Coca has a 21 percent stake in the Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company.
PepsiCo and General Electric have also announced a partial closure of their business in Russia. PepsiCo said it would stop selling its beverage in Russia. He will also suspend all kinds of cake capital investment and promotional activities there. However, the company said it would continue to produce milk, baby formula and baby food to continue to support its 20,000 Russian employees and 40,000 Russian agricultural workers.
General Electric also said in a tweet that it was partially suspending its business in Russia. The company said that essential goods and medical equipment services for existing electricity services in Russia will continue.
Earlier, ‘KFC’ and ‘Pizza Hut’ parent company ‘Yum Brands’ said late on Tuesday that it plans to temporarily close 70 company-owned ‘KFC’ restaurants in Russia. Also, he is in talks with a franchisee to close all 50 ‘Pizza Hut’ restaurants in Russia.
At the same time, ‘Burger King’ said that it is giving profits from its 800 stores in Russia to relief efforts. Amazon said on Tuesday that new accounts in Russia and Belarus would not be able to be created on the company’s cloud computing network and Amazon Web Services. It is worth noting that Russia’s attack on Ukraine last month, after which it is facing international criticism and various sanctions.
