Some Western companies decline to join corporate exodus from Russia over Ukraine invasion
Hundreds of companies have pulled out of Russia over Putin's invasion of Ukraine
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The corporate exodus from Russia continued this week as several Western companies announced that they are temporarily suspending business in Russia over Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
Hundreds of well-known businesses, from Apple to Levi's, announced in the early days of the war they would stop doing business with Russia.
Consumers started applying pressure to big brands who were holding out as hashtags like #BoycottMcDonalds and #BoycottCocaCola trended on Twitter in recent days.
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Yale University professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld also compiled a list of a few dozen companies "that remain in Russia with significant exposure," further upping the pressure on companies who are keeping operations open there.
On Tuesday, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Pepsi announced plans to suspend business in Russia.
Christopher Wynne, the chief executive of Papa John's franchisee, attends an interview with Reuters in Moscow, Russia, July 21, 2017. (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov)
Several other companies followed suit on Wednesday, including Philip Morris, John Deere, Caterpillar, Papa John's, Hyatt, and others.
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Some of these businesses have ties with Russia that date back decades or longer. John Deere, the world's largest farm equipment maker, made its first major sale to the Pacific port city of Vladivostok more than a century ago.
Tobacco giant Philip Morris struck a production deal with the Soviet Union in the 1970s and now has 4,100 employees across two factories in Russia, as well as 100 sales offices.
Packs of Marlboro cigarettes are displayed for sale at a convenience store. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
Still, some companies have not announced plans to leave Russia yet. Mars, the iconic candy brand that owns snacks like Skittles, Snickers, Milky Way, and others, has over $2 billion invested in Russia, according to the Yale tally.
Mondelez, which owns brands like Oreo, Toblerone, and Cadbury, said Wednesday that it would reduce its operations in Russia but not pull out entirely in order to avoid disrupting the food supply.
"We will focus our operation on basic offerings, discontinue all new capital investments and suspend our advertising media spending," Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put wrote in an email to employees Wednesday.
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Other well-known companies, including Cummins, Kimberly-Clark, Abbott Labs, and others have not publicly disclosed plans to close their Russian operations.
Local militiaman Valery, 37, carries a child as he helps a fleeing family across a bridge destroyed by artillery, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 2. 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A Morning Consult poll found that 75% of Americans support businesses cutting business ties with Russia over the invasion.
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Sonnenfeld, the Yale professor who has been keeping track of business in Russia, said that there's reason to think the boycott could work, noting that the withdrawal in the 1980s of more than 200 companies from South Africa over apartheid helped beef up U.S. foreign policy.
"Despite the cost of abandoning major investments and the loss of business, there is a strong reputational incentive to withdraw," Sonnenfeld wrote Monday in a Fortune op-ed.
"Companies that fail to withdraw face a wave of U.S. public resentment far greater than what they face on climate change, voting rights, gun safety, immigration reform, or border security."
Reuters contributed to this report.