While more than 400 companies have withdrawn or suspended their operations in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, dozens of corporations are ignoring public pressure and still doing business in the country.
A list compiled by a research team at Yale University shows that as of March 17, a total of 34 companies are "digging in" and defying demands to exit the country or scale back operations.
Among the companies with no plans to exit the country is Koch Industries, which employs about 600 people at two Guardian Industries glass manufacturing facilities in Russian cities Rostov and Ryazan.
Koch President and chief operating officer Dave Robertson said cutting business ties would put its employees at risk and "do more harm than good."
"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," Robertson said in a statement. "Doing so would only put our employees there at greater risk and do more harm than good."
Robertson added that the company is complying with sanctions and will continue sending financial assistance to its Ukrainian employees and humanitarian aid to those affected in neighboring countries.
Other companies refusing to leave Russia include Reebok, Subway, Cinnabon, LG Electronics, Cargill, Halliburton and Pirelli.
When the list was originally published on February 28, only a few dozen companies had announced their departure from Russia. Since then, the list has circulated online and put pressure on business leaders holding out in the country.
"We have been told that our list of companies leaving and staying in Russia did provide courageous CEOs with the confidence to execute bold pronouncements," Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a management professor at Yale and leader of the research team, said in an op-ed in Fortune.
Sonnenfeld added that the list helped galvanize millions around the world to raise awareness and take action, and also provided a "much cited 'hall of shame' that guided the voices of employees, customers, and investors seeking to show their disapproval."
According to the list, 150 companies have completely halted their Russian engagements, 178 companies have temporarily suspended Russian operations while keeping return options open, and 74 companies have scaled back some but not all operations and/or are delaying investments.
The impact to Russia's economy has been "enormous," according to Sonnenfeld.
"That these voluntary business blockades, matched with governmental sanctions on certain key industries, finance and transportation, have worked to help slow up this economy, if not bring it to a complete standstill," he told PBS. "Already, we're seeing inflation approaching 30 percent. We're seeing the Russian ruble has plunged in value by 80 percent or so. It's unheard of."
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