Starbucks, which temporarily closed all its stores in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, announced on Monday that it would be permanently leaving the country.
The coffee chain therefore follows the example of other multinationals such as McDonald’s and the oil and gas company ExxonMobil.
Arriving on the Russian market fifteen years ago, Starbucks has 130 stores in Russia, but does not operate them directly. Its stores are managed by the Alshaya Group, a licensed partner that employs 2,000 people on behalf of Starbucks.
The multinational, headquartered in Seattle, confirms it will continue to pay these 2,000 employees over six months.
When the company announced the suspension of all business activity in Russia in early March, it told its chief executive Kevin Johnson will continue to make decisions that are true to its mission and values and to communicate clearly.
The company, whose Russian market represents less than 1% of its turnover, did not provide details on the financial impact of this release.
However, these consequences are certainly less than at McDonald’s. At the time of announcing its departure from Russia a week ago, the fast-food giant had run nearly 850 restaurants in the country.
McDonald’s, which opened its first store on Russian soil 32 years ago, said it expects an extraordinary bill of $ 1.2 billion to $ 1.4 billion following its decision to leave Russia.
Source: Radio-Canada
