Muristek
NEW YORK, March 18 — Two top Democratic US senators blasted Koch Industries Thursday for maintaining Russian operations when hundreds of major American companies have exited or scaled back following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Koch Industries is shamefully continuing to do business in Putin’s Russia and putting their profits ahead of defending democracy,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Ron Wyden, chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, said in a statement calling on Koch “to put the values of democracy ahead of its own profits.”
The criticism comes after Koch — a major donor to Republican candidates and conservative lobbying organisations — defended its move to continue operating in Russia, citing concerns for the safety of more than 600 workers in the country.
“We will not walk away from our employees there or hand over these manufacturing facilities to the Russian government so it can operate and benefit from them,” said Koch President Dave Robertson.
“Doing so would only put our employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good.”
Robertson condemned “the horrific and abhorrent aggression against Ukraine” and said Koch was complying with applicable sanctions and laws.
Koch is one of just 27 Western companies that are “defying demands” to exit or scale back in Russia, according to a list compiled by Yale School of Management Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who has documented exits or pullbacks by more than 400 businesses, including ExxonMobil, McDonald’s and General Motors.
In an op-ed in Fortune magazine, Sonnenfeld and Yale’s Steven Tian praised “courageous” CEOs who had punished Moscow.
“As we watch the slaughter of thousands of innocent civilians, economic blockades are surely better than bombs and bullets,” they said, as they likened companies that remained in Russia to firms that engaged with the Hitler regime in the Second World War. — AFP