Starbucks joins McDonald’s in quitting Russia
Starbucks has become the latest company to quit Russia after 15 years in the country.
Having suspending trading there in March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US firm now follows firms including McDonald’s and Renault in permanently exiting the country.
Starbucks entered Russia in 2007 and had grown to include 130 coffee shops, owned and operated by a licensee.
The company did not any give details on the financial impact of the decision, but said it would provide assistance to its staff “to transition to new opportunities outside of Starbucks”.
That includes paying its nearly 2,000 staff working at its shops for six months.
Starbucks joins firms such as McDonald’s and Renault in permanently exiting the country.
The Kuwait-based Alshaya Group, which owns and operates Starbucks’ Russian stores, said the decision to leave was a “Starbucks announcement” and referred questions to the coffee chain. It did not say whether it would seek to sell its stores or reopen under a new brand.
Last week, McDonald’s announced that it was selling its nearly 850 restaurants in Russia to a current licensee, Russian businessman Alexander Govor, who is expected to rebrand the restaurants.
Earlier this month, French carmaker Renault also said its business had been nationalised and would be run by Russian government entities, who said they hoped to revive production under a Soviet-era car brand.
