Could a global trade boycott bring Putin to his senses?
With the world turned upside down due to Putin’s war against Ukraine, and a growing number of countries and supranational organizations imposing sanctions to try to suffocate the relatively fragile Russian economy, companies are trying to balance the impact of pulling out of Russia with the likelihood of suffering reprisals in many other countries if they do not.
Several leading companies have already announced they are closing operations in Russia, others are leaving, and others are suspending their services. Apple has closed its shops but kept the App Store open; Airbus and Boeing will stop shipping parts and maintaining aircraft fleets in the country; Alphabet (Google and YouTube have halted advertising); MasterCard and Visa’s networks are suspended, while Burberry, Disney, Exxon Mobil, Facebook, Ford, Harley-Davidson, Ikea, Jaguar Land Rover, Mango, Mercedes Benz, Microsoft, Netflix, Nike, Reddit, Snap, Twitter, Volkswagen, Wise and many others are no longer doing business in Russia. Yesterday, Airbnb discontinued its services in Russia and Belarus but maintains them in Ukraine, not because anybody is planning a vacation there, but because some people are using it to book properties as a way of making financial donations to their owners.
