A woman is drinking coffee at Starbucks in a shopping mall in Khimki near Moscow.
Alexander Natruskin | Russia
After 15 years in Russia, Starbucks will leave the market, joining companies such as McDonald’s, Exxon Mobil and British American Tobacco, in full exit from the country.
The coffee giant announced on Monday that it will no longer be present in Russia. Starbucks has 130 branches in the country, which is less than 1% of the company’s annual revenue. They are all licensed, so the Seattle-based company itself does not manage them.
Starbucks has said it will pay its nearly 2,000 Russian workers for six months and help them move to new opportunities outside the coffee shop.
Both consumers and investors have pressured Western companies such as Starbucks to sever ties with Russia to show resistance to the Kremlin’s war with Ukraine, but it takes time to develop licensing deals. Starbucks has suspended all business with the country since March 8. The pause included deliveries of all Starbucks products and the temporary closure of the cafe.
In its latest quarterly results, published in early May, the company did not disclose the financial implications of the suspension of business operations. Former CEO Kevin Johnson has promised to donate royalties from Russian business to humanitarian causes.
But it was definitely a smaller financial blow than the one inflicted by McDonald’s, which has existed in Russia for more than 30 years.
The fast-food giant said the suspension of its significant Russian and Ukrainian operations cost him $ 127 million in the first quarter. These two markets accounted for 9% of its revenue in 2021. The company had about 850 restaurants in Russia, most of which ran the company rather than the licensees.
On Thursday, McDonald’s announced that it would sell the seats for an undisclosed amount to a Siberian franchisee who would manage them under a new brand.
