McDonald’s To Netflix: Brands That Have Suspended Operations In Russia

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has left brands and businesses across the world scrambled. Since February 24, after Vladimir Putin started the operation, multinational companies have been forced to reconsider their business ties with Russia. Many companies including H&M, McDonald's, Netflix and so on have shut their operation in the world’s largest geography. Netizens across social media have also been urging these global brands to pull out their operations in Russia to show solidarity with Ukraine -- “Stand With Ukraine”.

Taking to Twitter, Hollywood actor Sean Penn writes,” Until Coca-Cola, PepsiCo & McDonalds suspend business in Russia, American citizens have a very safe & simple way to stand with Ukraine. Any among us can suspend our purchases of their products & ask our friends to consider doing the same.”

Food chain

Food brands like Mcdonald's, Starbucks, Coca Cola have decided to shut their operations in Russia and they said that the temporary halt with cost them about $50 million per month.

Restaurant Brand International, which owns Burger Kind, has also decided to end its operation in Russia. It operated roughly across 800 locations and has decided to not approve any additional investment or expansion in its local business.

KFC-owner Yum Brands has also said that they will suspend all the outlets of KFC and it is likely to finalise an agreement that will put a stop to all the Pizza Hut restaurants as well. This will likely affect the operations of 1,000 KFC restaurants and 50 Pizza Huts.

Similarly, Coca Cola on Wednesday issued a statement, suspending its business operations in Russia.  “Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine. We will continue to monitor and assess the situation as circumstances evolve.”

Dunkin Doughnuts announced that it would cut off future investment for Russian stores. The company has its franchise across 20 locations in Russia and it said that although it won’t close the shop, but withdraw investment in them.

Carlsberg, the world’s third-largest brewer, said it had halted investments and would stop selling its flagship beer brand in Russia. The Carlsberg Group’s Baltika Breweries, based in St. Petersburg, will be run as a separate business. Heineken said it would stop producing, advertising and selling beer in Russia.

Mars, the maker of M&M’s and Snickers, has also suspended future investments of the food company in Russia.

Media

OTT-giant Netflix has suspended its services and future projects in the country while Walt Disney, Sony and Warner Bros have cancelled its movie releases in the country. Disney has also shut its business operations in the country, according to reports.

Beauty brands and retails

Japanese clothing company Uniqlo came under fire after its owner said that its stores will continue selling clothes in Russia. However, later it announced that it will suspend its operations in the country.

H&M, which had about 170 stores in Russia, paused sales, as did Nike, with about 116 stores. Similarly, Unilever, which owns brands like Dove and Sunsilk, suspended imports and exports.

Sports brand Adidas, which has about 500 stores across Russia and the former Soviet states, said that it will suspend its sale in those places.

Finance

Goldman Sachs, the first big American bank to exit the country, said it “is winding down its business in Russia in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements.”  Its announcement was followed hours later by JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States.

Other banks and multinational companies, which have decided to suspend operations in Russia, are Western Union, McKinsey & Company, Citi Group, Deloitte, PwC, KPMG and so on.

Russian banks-issued American Express, Mastercard and Visa will not work in other countries and cards issued elsewhere will not work for purchases in Russia.

Tech

Amazon Web Services has stopped accepting new customers for its cloud computing services. Google has suspended its advertisements and YouTube announced that it would block all channels tied up with Russian media channels.

While Microsoft and Apple have paused their sales, IBM has suspended its business.

Besides these, several travels and hospitality companies have also suspended and shut their business operations in Russia.