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| Calls to boycott Coca-Cola rise |
Calls to boycott Coca-Cola goods reached a boiling point on Friday afternoon when the beverage company apparently indicated that it will continue doing business in Russia despite the invasion of Ukraine.
Three Ukrainian supermarket chains announced the removal of Coca-Cola products from their shelves, and #BoycottCocaCola became the No. 1 national trending Twitter topic Friday afternoon after a spokesperson for the beverage company's exclusive bottler in Russia reportedly told a Russian state-owned news agency that the company would continue all business operations in the country.
According to the Kyiv Independent, the Ukrainian grocery chain Novus said in a statement, "This shameful company continues to work for the invaders in full force."
The Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, which has exclusive rights to distribute Coca-Cola products in Russia and 28 other countries, had no plans to discontinue operations in Russia, according to the Russian state-owned news outlet TASS late Thursday.
"Coca-operational, Cola's production, and logistics facilities in Russia are fully operational. We are entirely accountable to our partners, society, and the thousands of employees we employ in Russia. The safety of our staff is our first priority "TASS spoke with a Coca-Cola HBC spokeswoman.
The Coca-Cola Company did not respond to the Washington Examiner's several requests for comment.
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| #BoycottCocaCola was the top trending topic on Twitter in the United States on Friday afternoon. (Twitter/Screenshot) |
Many critics compared Coca-Cola's beverage toward Russia to its vehement denunciation of Georgia's governor, Brian Kemp, after he signed voting reform legislation into law in March 2021.
On national television, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincy termed the Georgia legislation "unacceptable" and a "step backward," saying that "this legislation is incorrect and needs to be addressed," and that "we will continue to argue for it both in private and... even more clearly in public."
While Coca-Cola issued a statement on Thursday giving financial assistance to humanitarian relief operations in Ukraine in the wake of the invasion, the message made no mention of Russia or Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Since Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine in late February, scores of Western corporations in the energy, technology, entertainment, retail, automobile, and other industries have ceased operations in Russia.
Since Putin's invasion of Ukraine in late February, a slew of Western firms in the energy, technology, entertainment, retail, automobile, and other industries have halted operations in Russia.
Following its announcement Sunday that it will exit its 19.75 percent share in Russia's state-controlled oil company Rosneft, the British energy corporation BP, Russia's largest foreign investor, could suffer a $25 billion loss.
Russia, for its part, has taken steps to stem the corporate flight from the country, indicating that corporations will be barred from selling their Russian assets until international sanctions are reversed.
Source: washingtonexaminer
1 Comments
From a humanitarian perspective, Coco Cola is still responsible for it's employees. It's not right to deny them their livelihood because of a government's atrocious actions. The civilian populace is not the government. Give those responsible what they are due. Don't bring blame against the civilians.
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