Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and McDonald’s join list of companies suspending operations in Russia

Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and McDonald’s are among the food and beverage companies to have joined the exodus from Russia, amid the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Yesterday, Coca-Cola released a statement announcing that it had suspended its business in Russia, declaring that: “Our hearts are with the people who are enduring unconscionable effects from these tragic events in Ukraine. We will continue to monitor and assess the situation as circumstances evolve.”

In a statement originally sent out to associates, PepsiCo CEO, Ramon Laguarta, said the beverage giant would also cease operations in the country. “…Given the horrific events occurring in Ukraine, we are announcing the suspension of the sale of Pepsi-Cola and our global beverage brands in Russia, including 7Up and Mirinda. We will also be suspending capital investments and all advertising and promotional activities in Russia,” he commented. 

Meanwhile, fast food chain McDonald’s joined the list today, announcing the closure of 850 restaurants across Russia. The company will be continuing to pay the salaries of all employees in Russia and Ukraine, as well as donating $5 million to its Employee Assistance Fund.

With industry giants continually pulling out of Russia, this could have drastic effects on the markets and businesses in question. 

Walid Koudmani, chief market analyst at financial brokerage XTB, commented: “A growing number of companies have announced their withdrawal from or suspension of services in Russia with McDonald’s, Starbucks and Coca-Cola being the latest to make such announcements and isolating the country economically even more.

“While these decisions will certainly impact stock prices in the near future, many of these companies have been acting pre-emptively as they would be unable to transfer their profits anyway and would be significantly impacted by the state sanctions already imposed”.

He continued: “The situation remains very tense and investors are monitoring it carefully as any positive news may cause a domino effect across stocks as the companies potentially regain access to what is effectively one of the largest markets in the world”.

Starbucks, Kraft Heinz, Kellogg and many more have also joined the exodus from Russia amid the conflict.