After Russia’s globally condemned attack on her neighbor, Ukraine, different sanctions have been hitting the Vladmir Putin-led country left, right and middle. Big consumer outlets have also joined other entities in closing shops in Russia owing to growing pressure. Others have been halting sales there citing staff security and safety concerns.

McDonald’s is one of the consumer giants that have joined the movement by closing roughly 847 McDonald’s restaurants in Russia. Starbucks also said that it will close its 100 coffee shops unless the Russian administration ceased fire in Ukraine. In addition, soft drink giants, Coca-Cola and Pepsi have also ceased sales in the European country that has amassed global condemnation for attacking her neighbor.

Global Brands Close Shops in Russia

More global brands have been bowing to pressure to act as Russia continue to wage its attacks and violence on innocent civilians. In their press statement, McDonald’s said that it made the crucial move as a response to “needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine”. McDonald’s President and CEO, Chris Kempczinski also added that, “Our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine.”

Other brands are General Electric which has announce a partial closing of its Russian business. Burger King and Pizza Hut are also taking crucial strides as their response. Unilever, a consumer goods conglomerate also said it was halting its imports and experts in and out of Russia respectively.

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Technology Companies Bow to Pressure Over Russia’s Attack on Ukraine

Different technology companies have also followed suit. Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing part of Amazon also said it has stopped new sign-ups from Russia and Belarus.

Other Businesses Closing Shops in Russia

Many other brands have been shutting down in Russia since sanctions’ pressure started. The others include:

• Apple suspended the sale of all its products in Russia, including services such as Apple Maps and Apple Pay
• TikTok suspended live streaming in Russia
• Heineken, which stopped beer production as well as sales
• Mothercare, which stopped all business in Russia
• Imperial Brands, the company behind JPS and Davidoff cigarettes paused production
• Levi’s and Netflix also suspended services in Russia
• Universal Music Group also suspended all its operations in Russia
• Warner Bros’ suspended new film releases in Russia
• Disney and Sony suspended services too, and withdrew new releases
• L’Oreal, the world’s biggest cosmetics company shut down its stores and concessions too. It also suspended its online sales
• Oil companies, BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, Equinor,
• IKEA
• Puma
• Women’secret
• KPMG
• EY
• PricewaterhouseCoopers (PcW)
• Freshfields, which halted working with any clients with any links to Russia
• McKinsye, which is a consultancy firm that serves 21 of the biggest 30 Russian companies (according to data on its website)
• Samsung, which said it will suspend shipments to Russia
• Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, and American Express have stated their plans to pull out too
• Auto companies, including Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, and General Motors have also suspended deliveries to Russia

Russia’s Reactions

Perhaps in a move to save face, Kremlin has also raised its backlash on companies closing shops or suspending operations. In a counter move, the secretary of the ruling part, Andrei Turchak, said that the country will be taking a hard decision against the companies. The country has warned of nationalizing production factories or plants where there have been temporary suspensions.

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Sources:

1. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60571133
2. https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60649214
3. https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/mcdonalds-to-temporarily-close-850-stores-in-russia/2022/03/08/9ebea2e8-9f07-11ec-9438-255709b6cddc_story.html

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