company departures and shortages put Russia’s economy at risk

At lunchtime, Wednesday, March 9, some residents of Moscow (Russia) may be visiting a McDonald’s restaurant for the last time. The American chain has announced the suspension of the activity of its 850 establishments in Russia. The first McDonald’s opened in Moscow in January 1990, at the end of the USSR. The Starbucks coffee chain, Pepsi and Coca Cola are also stopping or suspending their activity in response to the Russian operation in Ukraine.

In pharmacies, some customers stock medicines produced abroad. The daily life of Russians is changing and the ruble has collapsed. According to a rating agency, the country could even default, that is to say not be able to repay its debts. Sergey Alexashenko, the former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Russia, even predicts “an economic disaster”. Among the 500 French companies present in Russia, “a few are packing up, but many others, like the oil giant Total, are content to suspend their new investments”says journalist Luc Lacroix.