McDonald's to exit Russia over 'humanitarian crisis in Ukraine'

The world's largest burger chain decided in March to close its 847 restaurants in the country

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  Sony's game division and Nintendo said they have suspended shipments of software and hardware to Russia. Nintendo said it is suspending shipping all products to Russia "for the foreseeable future... due to considerable volatility surrounding the logistics of shipping and distributing physical goods." AFP

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  Rio Tinto said it "is in the process of terminating all commercial relationships it has with any Russian business". It has an alumina joint venture with Moscow-based United Rusal International. Reuters

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  McDonald's is temporarily closing all 847 of its restaurants in Russia. AFP

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  Starbucks is suspending all business activity in Russia, including shipments of its products and cafes run by licencees. AFP

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  Coca-Cola is suspending sales in Russia. Coca-Cola said its business in Russia and Ukraine contributed about 1 to 2 per cent of the company's net operating revenue in 2021. Reuters

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  PepsiCo is suspending sales of its sodas in Russia. It said it would continue to sell daily essentials, such as milk and other dairy offerings, baby formula and baby food, in Russia. Getty Images / AFP

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  Yum Brands, behind KFC and Pizza Hut, also said it was suspending investment in Russia. Reuters

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  Toyota is halting production at its plant in St Petersburg, and will halt vehicle shipments to Russia. Reuters

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  Ikea said it would suspend its activities in Russia and Belarus, affecting nearly 15,000 employees, 17 stores and three production sites. AFP

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  Honda will stop exports of cars and motorcycles to Russia. EPA

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  Jaguar Land Rover has paused the delivery of its cars to Russia due to "trading challenges".

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  Airbus is suspending sale of parts and support services to airline customers in Russia. Reuters

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  Boeing has suspended major operations in Moscow and temporarily closed its office in Kyiv. It is also suspending parts, maintenance and technical support services for Russian airlines. Reuters

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  Nike has made merchandise purchases on its website and app unavailable in Russia as it cannot guarantee delivery of goods to customers in the country, an update on the sportswear maker's website showed. Bloomberg

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  German sportswear company Puma has stopped deliveries to Russia, but its 100 stores are open. Getty Images

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  Shell is to exit all its Russian operations, including a major liquefied natural gas plant. The company also plans to end its involvement in the Nord Stream II gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. PA

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  BP is exiting its 19.75 per cent shareholding in Russian oil giant Rosneft after pressure from the UK government. BP has operated in Russia for more than 30 years. Reuters

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  ExxonMobil will cease operations in Russia and refrain from making new investments in the country. It holds a 30 per cent stake, alongside Rosneft, Japan's Sodeco and India's ONGC Videsh, in the Sakhalin Island oil and gas fields in Russia’s far east. Its business in the country is valued at more than $4 billion. AFP

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  Eni said it would withdraw from the Blue Stream gas pipeline linking Russia to Turkey, in which it has a 50 per cent stake. The company controls the gas pipeline -- which links the two countries via the Black Sea -- equally with Russian energy giant Gazprom. Reuters

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  British Gas owner Centrica has said it will exit gas supply agreements with its Russian counterparts, including Gazprom. Centrica said it currently has a medium-term contract with Gazprom Marketing and Trading, the Russian energy company's UK entity, through which gas can be sourced from the open market. Reuters

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  Norwegian energy group Equinor said it will start the process of divesting from its joint ventures in Russia. Reuters

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  HSBC said it was starting to wind down relations with a host of Russian banks including the second-largest, VTB, one of those targeted by sanctions, a memo seen by Reuters showed. AFP

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  Volkswagen suspended deliveries of cars to dealers in Russia. 'Deliveries are to resume as soon as the effects of the sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States have been clarified', a VW representative said. AP

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  Swedish automaker Volvo Cars said it would suspend car shipments to the Russian market until further notice, becoming the first international car maker to do so. Supplied

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  GM said it would suspend all vehicle exports to Russia until further notice. The Detroit company does not have plants in Russia, only sells about 3,000 vehicles annually in the country and has limited supply-chain exposure. AFP

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  Danish shipping giant Maersk said that it would stop taking new non-essential orders to and from Russia, owing to sanctions imposed over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. AFP

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  Singapore-headquartered container shipping company Ocean Network Express has suspended bookings to and from Russia. Reuters

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  AerCap Holdings, the world's biggest plane lessor with about 5 per cent of its fleet leased to Russian airlines, said it will stop trading with Russian customers. Reuters

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  US-based United Parcel Service said it is halting delivery services to Russia and Ukraine. Bloomberg

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  FedEx also said it is temporarily suspending inbound and outbound services to Ukraine and inbound services to Russia until further notice. AP

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  Microsoft said it would remove Russian state-owned media outlet RT's mobile apps from its Windows App store and ban ads on Russian state-sponsored media. Reuters

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  Google has barred RT and other Russian channels from receiving money for ads on websites, apps and YouTube videos. Reuters

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  German heavy-goods vehicle group Daimler Truck has said it will cease its co-operation with Russian lorry-maker Kamaz. AFP

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  Motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson has suspended shipments of its bikes to Russia. Pictured, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Reuters

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  Facebook owner Meta Platforms has restricted access to accounts run by Sputnik and RT in the EU. Reuters

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  Apple has paused all product sales and limited the functionality of other services in Russia. Reuters

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McDonald's on Monday became one of the biggest global names to exit Russia, laying out plans to sell all its restaurants following its invasion of Ukraine after operating for more than 30 years in the country.

The world's largest burger chain, which owns about 84 per cent of its 847 restaurants in Russia, will take a related non-cash charge of up to $1.4 billion.

McDonald's had in March decided to close its restaurants in the country, including the iconic Pushkin Square location in central Moscow.

In the Russia of the early 1990s, the burger chain became a way to sample western food and culture for millions of people, even though the cost of one burger was several times higher than many city dwellers' daily budgets.

Customers stand outside the newly-opened, first McDonald's in the Soviet Union, at Moscow's Pushkin Square, in January 1990. AFP

“Some might argue that providing access to food and continuing to employ tens of thousands of ordinary citizens is surely the right thing to do,” chief executive Chris Kempczinski said in a letter to employees. “But it is impossible to ignore the humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.”

Though a vast majority of the stores in Russia are closed, a few franchised stores have stayed open, cashing in on the chain's skyrocketing popularity. McDonald's generated about 9 per cent, or $2bn, of its revenue from Russia and Ukraine last year.

At the weekend, social media footage showed long, snaking queues at the restaurant in Moscow's Leningradsky Station, one of the capital's only branches that has remained open.

McDonald's said it was looking to sell its restaurants in Russia to a local buyer, but will retain its trademarks.

“Given the circumstances of the sale, the financial challenges faced by potential Russian buyers, and the fact that McDonald's will not licence its brand name or identity, it is unlikely the sale price will be anywhere near the pre-invasion book value of the business,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData.

McDonald's said it would ensure its 62,000 employees in Russia continue to be paid until the close of any transaction and that they have future jobs with any potential buyer.

After McDonald's decision to close stores in March, several American brands including Starbucks, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola followed suit, scrambling to comply with sanctions and deal with threats from the Kremlin that foreign-owned assets may be seized.

“I would not be surprised to see other companies follow McDonald's lead of exiting the market,” Edward Jones analyst Brian Yarbrough said.

Earlier in the day, French car maker Renault said it would sell its majority stake in Avtovaz to a Russian science institute.