McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Starbucks suspend operations in Russia

McDonald’s said it would go on paying salaries to its 62,000 employees in Russia as it closed 847 restaurants.

Its first location to open in Russia, in central Moscow’s Pushkin Square in 1990, became a symbol of flourishing American capitalism as the Soviet Union fell.

Coca-Cola Co said it will suspend its business there. Coca-Cola was the official drink of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, despite the United States boycotting the event in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Starbucks Corp is temporarily closing hundreds of stores. The company said that its partner, Alshaya Group, which operates at least 100 cafes in Russia, will “provide support to nearly 2,000 partners in Russia who depend on Starbucks for their livelihood”.

Pepsi Co Inc will suspend all advertising in Russia and stop the sale of its drinks brands, while continuing to sell essentials such as milk and baby food.

Scores of other companies also have rebuked Russia, and Amazon.com Inc said it would stop accepting new customers for its cloud services in Russia and Ukraine.

Universal Music suspended all operations in Russia and online dating service Bumble Inc will remove its apps from stores in Russia and Belarus.

Earlier, Royal Dutch Shell Plc stopped buying oil from Russia and said it would cut links to the country entirely while the United States stepped up its campaign to punish Moscow by banning Russian oil and energy imports.

“It’s impossible to predict when we might be able to reopen our restaurants in Russia,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in a note emailed company wide and posted on the company’s website.

“We are experiencing disruptions to our supply chain along with other operational impacts. We will also closely monitor the humanitarian situation.”