Photo: NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP / Getty Images
After 15 years operating in Russia, Starbucks, the international chain of coffee shops, announced that it will exit the market in that country in the face of the conflict with Ukraine.
Through a statement, Starbucks said that will no longer have a presence of the brand in Russia and will close the 100 stores in the country, all licensed, representing 1% of the company’s annual revenue.
Regarding the almost 2, 04 Russian employees, the Seattle-based company said they will be paid for six months to help transition to new job opportunities.
Starbucks had suspended all commercial activity with Russia since last March 8. This included shipments of the company’s products and the temporary closure of stores. However, the licensing agreements remained in force.
The announcement comes days after McDonald’s decided to close the 1200 restaurants it has in the Eurasian country after operating for more than 30 years. This represents a hit of $50 million dollars per month and a non-monetary one between $1,200 and $1,400 million dollars derived from the sale. The company had 62,000 employees in Russia.
“The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine and the precipitous and unpredictable operating environment have led McDonald’s to conclude that business continuity in Russia is no longer sustainable,” he said.
Although Starbucks has not disclosed the financial losses from exiting the Russian market, it is estimated that they were much less than those experienced by McDonald’s.
In addition to Starbucks and McDonald’s, other companies that have ceased operations in Russia are KFC, Pizza Hut, Exxon Mobil and British American Tobacco.
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