McDonald’s & Coca-Cola Pull Out Of Russia After Intense Pressure

As Vladimir Putin refuses to step down from the war, Russians are facing challenges every day. This is a ban that all Russians will feel immediately. All Starbucks and McDonald’s outlets are shutting down in protest for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Starbucks has approximately 130 locations in Russia and Ukraine and employs over 2,000 people. The McDonald’s hit will be even bigger since it has about 850 outlets that are closing down and they employ 62,000 Russians.

We previously reported that McDonald’s received a tremendous amount of backlash over their continued business in Russia. Coca-Cola trended for this reason as well.

Kevin Johnson, CEO of Starbucks, says the company will provide support to the workers but all kinds of shipments will be prohibited and all the branches are closing down until further notice.

CEO of McDonald’s says, “Our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine.”

McDonald’s and Starbucks have been in Russia for 30 years now. Their newly opened outlets in Moscow had huge crowd in 1990, in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Eastern Bloc.

Both companies have faced a lot of criticism for remaining open before today’s announcements and following this, Coca-Cola said that it too will suspend all businesses in Russia.

The U.S. had announced economic sanctions that have crushed the value of Russia’s currency. Also, the U.S. and various other nations are seizing the assets of Russia’s oligarchs.

What’s your take on this story? Tell us in the comments!