Coca Cola Suspends Business In Russia; McDonald’s Temporarily Closes All 850 Locations

Hours after McDonald’s announced plans to shutter every restaurant in Russia, Coca Cola followed suit, announcing on Tuesday that the company would no longer sell its products in the country

“We will continue to monitor and assess the situation as circumstances evolve,” the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Pepsi is suspending capital investments and advertising.

More via Bloomberg on Pepsi 

• To suspend capital investments and all advertising and promotional activities in Russia
• “As a food and beverage company, now more than ever we must stay true to the humanitarian aspect of our business,” according to an internal email
• “That means we have a responsibility to continue to offer our other products in Russia, including daily essentials such as milk and other dairy offerings, baby formula and baby food”

McDonald’s also announced plans to temporarily shutter roughly 850 restaurants in Russia, AP reported.

In recent days, calls for McDonald’s and Coca-Cola to abandon the Russian market have intensified. There were 847 McDonald’s locations in Russia at the end of last year. During Coke’s discussion of its full-year earnings results in February, CEO of Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (which is responsible for distribution in Russia and Ukraine), had pointed to the two markets as an important driver of growth, CNN reports.