United rebuke continues against Russia as McDonald , PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and Starbucks, halting their operations on Tuesday. The halt has come amid the Russian war against Ukraine. Closing all of his restaurants where it employs 62,000 people in Russia, a fast-food giant said that they can’t ignore the ongoing crises in Ukraine.
In quick succession, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo stopped or restricted business citing the growing human cost of the invasion. In a statement, PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta said that through continued operation, the company supports the livelihoods of 20,000 Russian co-workers and 40,000 Russian agricultural workers in its supply chain. Starbucks, which operates 130 stores in Russia, said it would stop all operations, including shipments of merchandise.
However, some of the giants have noted that their sales operation is halting their business. Experts in ethics and communications strategy told AFP that some businesses may have legitimate reasons to remain.
A professor of business ethics at Indiana University, Tim Fort said that some companies may hesitate to leave because they think they can mediate or manufacture essential products, such as pharmaceutical ingredients.
In light of Russia’s human rights and conflict law violations, he said, they have to pick a side, and he doesn’t think it would be too hard to do so. Fort pointed out that the exit of one company won’t tip the balance, but leaving multiple companies could have an adverse effect.
