The coffee company Starbucks will be leaving Russia this week, following swiftly behind McDonald’s’ leaving Russia last week.
On Monday executives sent a memo to their employees saying that the decision to pull out of Russia was final. The Seattle-based company will be closing 130 locations in the country, however they will be paying their some 2,000 employees and aiding them in finding new jobs over the next six months.
Starbucks first opened up shop in Russia back in 2007. Back in march of this year Starbucks pledged to donate Russian location profits to Ukrainian humanitarian efforts. The company’s stores are owned and operated by Kuwait-based Alshaya Group. However, following worldwide business decisions to shut down stores in Russia, Starbucks would do the same.
Now however, the company will not be operating a single store in Russia.
“Through this dynamic situation, we will continue to make decisions that are true to our mission and values and communicate with transparency,” CEO Kevin Johnson told employees in a message.
See also from Business News:
