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Google PlayStarbucks is cutting its ties with Russia.
The coffee giant announced on Monday, per CNBC, that it will be exiting the country for good, shutting down its 130 locations across the board, and paying its roughly 2,000 Russian workers for six months.
Starbucks now joins companies like McDonald’s, Exxon Mobil, and British American Tobacco in departing from Russia, which its had locations in for 15 years and which makes up 1% of its annual revenue. The licensed locations were not operated by Starbucks itself.
“We condemn the unprovoked, unjust and horrific attacks on Ukraine by Russia, and our hearts go out to all those affected,” former CEO Kevin Johnson told employees in March. “The invasion and humanitarian impact of this war are devastating and create a ripple effect that is felt throughout the world.”
Starbucks, which suspended all business activity with Russia since March 8, previously has been urged to depart following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Previously, McDonald’s announced on Thursday that it’ll be selling its locations in Russia to a Siberian franchisee so they could be rebranded. These McDonald’s locations included 850 restaurants that employ 62,000 people.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said the “dedication and loyalty to McDonald’s” made it a difficult move to make, but that “we have a commitment to our global community and must remain steadfast in our values.”
This was the very best of a series of difficult choices,” James O’Rourke, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, told CBS. “Under this arrangement, McDonald’s Russian employees will have a steady employment future, ordinary citizens will have a mostly familiar neighborhood spot for a sandwich and a soft drink, and by ‘de-arching’ the 850 stores in Russia McDonald’s Corporation will protect the brand and recover at least some of its capital investment.”
