After it was revealed that Koch Industries, the conglomerate run by rightwing billionaire Charles Koch, was continuing to do business in Russia through three wholly-owned subsidiaries, pressure is rising on the company to drop out.
Hundreds of businesses have halted operations in Russia as a result of the country’s invasion of Ukraine, including Coca-Cola, KPMG, McDonald’s, Netflix, and Starbucks. However, three Koch subsidiaries are still operating in the country, according to a report published last week by the news site Popular Information.
In a joint statement, Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Ron Wyden said, “Koch Industries is shamefully continuing to do business in Putin’s Russia and putting profits before of safeguarding democracy.” “While the world’s democracies make enormous sacrifices to punish Russia for Putin’s illegal and savage invasion of Ukraine, Koch Industries profits off Putin’s rule.”
Koch has defended its operations in Russia. Guardian Industries, a glass manufacturer; Molex, an electronic component manufacturer; and Koch Engineered Solutions, a distributor of industrial products, are the company’s three remaining businesses in the country.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, delivered a speech to Congress, according to a statement. “All American corporations must quit their market immediately,” Zelenskiy stated, “because it is saturated with our blood.”
According to a count gathered by Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and his research team, the Kansas-based conglomerate – the US’s second-largest private firm – is one of 40 companies “digging in” and refusing to leave Russia.
Last week, Popular Information revealed that a network of Koch-funded commentators and organizations had publicly advocated against imposing economic sanctions on Russia.