DETROIT— Hours after McDonald's said it is temporarily closing all of its 850 restaurants in Russia, Coca-Cola and Starbucks announced they would pause operations in the country.
"Our licensed partner has agreed to immediately pause store operations and will provide support to the nearly 2,000 partners in Russia who depend on Starbucks for their livelihood," Starbucks said in a statement.In an open letter to employees, McDonald's President and CEO Chris Kempckinski said closing those stores is the right thing to do because McDonald's can't ignore the"needless human suffering in Ukraine.
According to the Yale School of Management, nearly 300 companies have stopped doing business in Russia. However, there are still some holdouts. Fortune reports Nestle and Pepsi are still doing business in Russia. According to CNBC, Pepsi is pausing sales of some products in Russia, but it will continue to provide items like baby formula and baby food.