Starbucks is latest company to exit the Russian market

Starbucks has announced that it will “exit and no longer have a brand presence” in the Russian market.

The global coffee chain first suspended all operations across its 130 stores in Russia on 8 March, following its condemnation of “the horrific attacks on Ukraine”.

Starbucks promised that it will continue to support its 2,000 employees in Russia by providing six-months worth of pay and assistance in finding alternative jobs.

The exit comes after McDonalds announced last week that it will sell its entire Russian portfolio, which consists of more than 800 restaurants, to a local buyer.

McDonalds said that it expects to lose $1.2-1.4b from its net investment in the market.

Starbucks has not yet released an estimate of the financial repercussions of its decision.

In March, Kevin Johnson, chief executive of Starbucks, revealed in a public letter that the company would donate royalties from its business operations in Russia to humanitarian relief programmes in Ukraine, and that the Starbucks Foundation had contributed $500,000 to World Central Kitchen and the Red Cross.

Starbucks runs over 32,000 stores across 80 countries.

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