The list of companies continuing to operate in Russia is shrinking by the minute, but dozens of corporations including multinational manufacturers and hotel chains are still doing business in the country despite intense public pressure to withdraw over its invasion of Ukraine.
McDonald’s was among the big-name companies to announce this week that it would temporarily close its 850 restaurants in Russia. Cola-Cola and PepsiCo quickly followed suit, as did restaurant chains Burger King, Papa John’s, Little Caesars and others. Deutsche Bank on March 11 announced that it was “winding down” its business in Russia. The German financial giant had drawn fire for initially saying that it intended to continue some of its activities in the country.
Caterpillar cited “supply chain disruptions and sanctions” for its March 9 decision to suspend operations at its Russian manufacturing facilities. “We recognize this is a time of incredible uncertainty for our valued employees, and we will continue to look for ways to support them,” the maker of construction and mining equipment stated.
The Peoria, Illinois-based company opened its first office in Russia in 1973, and has a parts distribution facility in Moscow and a manufacturing plant in Tosno, near Saint Petersburg. Russia accounts for 8% of Caterpillar’s annual revenue, or approximately $4 billion, according to Yale University management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld.
More than 30 large companies “remain in Russia with significant exposure,” according to a running tally updated daily by Sonnenfeld and his team.
The goal of calling out the companies is to pressure them to work in concert with the U.S. government and its allies that have imposed economic sanctions against Russia, Sonnenfeld told CBS News. Government sanctions “rarely succeed completely alone — they need fairly universal support of the business community to truly paralyze an economy as