🎄🎁 How to buy a gift for loved ones and not support the war?
Quite a good question, considering that according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), 1,603 companies continue to operate in Russia and have production facilities in Ukraine.
Among the companies known to Ukrainians that came and went from the Russian market and did not make it, PepsiCo, Auchan, METRO AG, Danone, Mars, Nestle, Huawei, Mondelez International, which produces the well-known Oreo and Barney cookies, Milka chocolate, Dirol chewing gums and Halls lollipops and others.
🔴 Why is it important to boycott companies that have not yet left the Russian market?
The Russian economy was fully mobilized to support military operations, and Western companies operating on the territory of Russia became complicit in the war by paying taxes.
According to Natalia Popovych, co-founder of the B4Ukraine coalition, international companies pay taxes in the amount of about 18 billion dollars annually. This amount is enough to finance two months of war in Ukraine.
In addition, almost all companies that did not leave Russia even for humanitarian reasons are participating in the mobilization, handing out summonses to their employees and keeping their jobs.
🔴 How can a consumer influence companies that have not yet left the Russian market?
There can be no business without consumers, because it is they, whether or not they buy products, that form the income of all brands. Therefore, the best punishment for brands that remain in Russia will be to ignore their products.
Each of us is a changemaker who can increase the pressure on companies that have not left the Russian market by our own actions:
1️. Buy goods from companies that are socially responsible and boycott those that support the war in Ukraine by their actions. You can check the presence of companies on the Russian market on the website of the KSE project (https://leave-russia.org/uk), similar resources, or on the sanctions portal of the NACP (https://sanctions.nazk.gov.ua/).
2️. Support initiatives in social networks that call for a boycott of companies that have remained working in Russia. Even one repost is enough to increase the number of views.
3️. Spread among acquaintances the culture of responsible shopping, which excludes the purchase of not only Russian goods, but also products of well-known global brands that continue to work in the Russian Federation.
In this way, even more Western entrepreneurs will think about leaving the territory of Russia and bringing intangible values to the fore, so as not to lose even more customers and profits.
The choice to refuse to buy the products of companies that have not left the Russian market is a personal decision of everyone. But are socially irresponsible purchases before the New Year holidays worth the lives of thousands of Ukrainians?
