New Delhi: The list is only growing for the companies boycotting Russia in their bid to isolate them from the global arena after their advanced aggression in Ukraine. Now, McDonald's, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and Starbucks have halted sales of their popular products in Russia on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
Pepsi and McDonald’s are seen as the corporate pioneers whose efforts with the Soviet Union and the post-Soviet Russian state decades ago were seen as a sign of redefining international relations. The four MNCs have major operations in Russia, as per Reuters.
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McDonald's To Continue With Salaries
Even as McDonald's closed 847 restaurants, the company said it would continue to pay salaries to its 62,000 employees in Russia. The fast-food joint opened its first outlet in central Moscow's Pushkin Square in 1990, which went on to become a symbol of flourishing American capitalism as the Soviet Union fell.
Starbucks Suspends Operations Temporarily
Starbucks Corp has gone ahead to temporarily close hundreds of stores besides suspending all advertising in Russia. The company has stopped the sale of its drinks brands but it will continue to sell essentials such as milk and baby food.
Coca-Cola Co, Amazon, Bumble Join The List
Coca-Cola Co will suspend its business in Russia too. Coca-Cola remained the official drink of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow despite the chorus of the US boycotting the event in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Other companies which pulled the plugs in their Russia operation include Amazon.com Inc which said it would stop accepting new customers for its cloud services in Russia and Ukraine.
Universal Music suspended all operations in Russia, and online dating service Bumble Inc will remove its apps from stores in Russia and Belarus.
Earlier, Royal Dutch Shell Plc stopped purchasing oil from Russia and insisted it would cut off ties to the country entirely while the United States stepped up its campaign to punish Moscow by banning Russian oil and energy imports.
Britain too said it would ban imports of Russian oil but only by gradually phasing them out during 2022 to give businesses time to find alternative sources of supply.
Shell, BP & Exxon Mobile
Shell and rivals BP Plc and Exxon Mobil Corp announced their plans to sell holdings in Russia and exit the country, leaving France's TotalEnergies relatively isolated in hanging on to its investments there.