Major global companies, including PepsiCo and McDonald’s, are under growing pressure to quit doing business in Russia as Vladimir Putin continues his country’s war on Ukraine.
Apple halted sales in Russia, Nike and Ikea closed their stores in the country, and Mastercard and Visa suspended their services there. But some large companies, such as PepsiCo, have made no statements condemning the war and have continued business as usual.
McDonald’s had not said whether the food giant would continue business in Russia amid the war — until Tuesday afternoon, when the company released a statement saying it will temporarily close all restaurants in Russia and pause all operations in the market.
“In Russia, we employ 62,000 people who have poured their hearts and souls into our McDonald’s brand to serve their communities,” the company said. “At the same time, our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine.
“Years ago, when confronted with his own difficult decision, [former CEO] Fred Turner explained his approach quite simply: ‘Do the right thing.’ That philosophy is enshrined as one of our five guiding values, and there are countless examples over the years of McDonald’s Corporation living up to Fred’s simple ideal,” the statement continued. “Today is also one of those days.”
McDonald’s has 847 restaurants in Russia, and says on its website that operations in Ukraine and Russia amount to approximately 9% of worldwide sales and 3% of profit. The company said it will continue paying the salaries of employees in Ukraine and Russia.
Russia accounts for over 4% of PepsiCo’s sales, according to The New York Times.
New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli warned several companies, including McDonald’s and PepsiCo, on Friday of “significant and growing legal, compliance, operational, human rights and personnel, and reputational risks,” attached with doing business in Russia, according to Reuters.
DiNapoli, who oversees the $258.1 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, wrote in letters to the companies on Friday that reassessing operations in Russia “would address various investment risks associated with the Russian market and play an important role in condemning Russia’s role in fundamentally undermining the international order that is vital to a strong and healthy global economy.”
McDonald’s said its Ronald McDonald House Charities will continue to fully operate in Russia, and that the RMHC in Ukraine is partnering with local hospitals to deploy medical supplies and helping provide humanitarian aid throughout the country.
PepsiCo did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Other Western-based brands, including Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Burger King, also have attracted criticism for continuing to operate in Russia.
Actor Sean Penn, who recently returned to the U.S. after filming a documentary on the Russian invasion in Ukraine, called on Monday for Americans to boycott those brands.
“Until Coca-Cola, PepsiCo & McDonalds suspend business in Russia, American citizens have a very safe & simple way to stand with Ukraine,” Penn tweeted. “Any among us can suspend our purchases of their products & ask our friends to consider doing the same.”
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba over the weekend called out Shell Oil for buying Russian crude oil.
“One question to @Shell: doesn’t Russian oil smell Ukrainian blood for you?” Kuleba wrote on Twitter Friday. “I call on all conscious people around the globe to demand multinational companies to cut all business ties with Russia.”
Shell announced on Tuesday it would stop buying oil and natural gas from Russia, and said it would close its service stations in the country.
“We are acutely aware that our decision last week to purchase a cargo of Russian crude oil to be refined into products like petrol and diesel — despite being made with security of supplies at the forefront of our thinking — was not the right one and we are sorry,” CEO Ben van Beurden said, according to The Associated Press. “As we have already said, we will commit profits from the limited, remaining amounts of Russian oil we will process to a dedicated fund.”
Sanjana Karanth contributed to this report.