McDonald’s and Coca Cola are very complicated multinational businesses, that have been criticised on social media for failing to speak out about the attacks and invasion of Ukraine, and continuing to operate in the country. Coca-Cola even has bottling plants in Russia and is not easy to pull out of Russia.
Netflix and Levi’s have already suspended sales or stopped providing services in Russia.
The likes of KFC, Pepsi, Starbucks, and Burger King also declined to responds to requests for suspending their trade in Russia.
Fast-food chain KFC reached a milestone of 1, 000 restaurants in Russia last year, and aimed to open 100 more restaurants there each year.
McDonald’s has 847 stores in Russia and the majority are operated by franchisees who have had a presence in Russia for decades. Most of these franchises are run by Kuwait-based Alshaya Group.