NEW YORK, March 9 — McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Starbucks yesterday bbowed to public pressure and suspended their operations in Russia over Moscow’s internationally condemned invasion of Ukraine.
Starbucks, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo announced their own decisions to halt or restrict business in quick succession, noting the growing human cost of the invasion. Starbucks, which has 130 Kuwaiti conglomerate-run coffee shops in Russia, said all operations, including product shipments, will be suspended.
Companies may be hesitant to leave because they think they can mediate or because they make essential products such as pharmaceutical ingredients, said Tim Fort, a professor of business ethics at Indiana University. Russians can “survive without the Big Mac,” but they may ask “why is McDonald’s closed? What’s going on? It’s a more powerful signal in that sense,” Fort said.
Brian Berkey, who specialises in corporate ethics at the University of Pennsylvania, said some companies may be betting the criticism will ultimately subside.