McDonald’s, Starbucks and Coca-Cola leave Russia
New Delhi: After days of silence and seeming reluctance to take a stance while facing rising pressure to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several iconic American food and beverage companies said on Tuesday that they were pausing operations in Russia.
McDonald’s, which has been in Russia for three decades, was first to say it would temporarily close its 850 restaurants in the country, including those it owns and those owned by franchisees.
Starbucks soon followed, saying the 130 restaurants it has in Russia, which are owned and operated by the Kuwaiti conglomerate Alshaya Group, would also immediately close. Coca-Cola followed suit.
And late in the day, PepsiCo, whose Pepsi drink has been sold in Russia since the early 1970s, said it would suspend soda sales, including 7Up. But it said it would continue its operations that manufacture milk, dairy products and baby formula and food, partly as a humanitarian effort but also to keep its 20,000 manufacturing and 40,000 farm workers employed.