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Burger King has announced it has suspended all of its corporate support for the Russian market in light of the ongoing Ukraine crisis.
This includes support for operations, marketing and supply chain, in addition to refusing approvals for investment and expansion.
The chain has no corporate restaurants in Russia, as the business is fully franchised and managed by a local master franchisee, but the move comes as more businesses seek to cut ties with the country.
In addition to this, Burger King said it has committed to redirecting any profits from franchised operations to humanitarian aid for Ukrainian refugees.
It has also made a $1m (£763m) donation to the UNHCR while Burger King franchisees in more than 25 European countries are partnering with local NGOs to distribute $2m (£1.5m) of free Whopper meal vouchers to Ukrainian refugees.
The news follows McDonald’s announcement earlier this week that it would temporarily shut all operations in Russia.
The group currently employs 62,000 people in Russia, and acknowledged the impact that closing operations may have on staff here. In light of this, it said it was “prepared to support all three legs of the stool” in Ukraine and Russia by greenlighting a salary continuation for workers in both countries.
