https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-prosecutors-warn-wester…
**Russian Prosecutors Warn Western Companies of Arrests, Asset Seizures**
**McDonald’s, Coke, P&G and IBM among those warned that leaders could be arrested, trademarks seized**
**by Jennifer Maloney, Emily Glazer, and Heather Haddon, The Wall Street Journal, 3/14/2022**
**Russian prosecutors have issued warnings to Western companies in Russia, threatening to arrest corporate leaders there who criticize the government or to seize assets of companies that withdraw from the country...**
**Prosecutors delivered the warnings in the past week to companies including Coca-Cola Co., McDonald’s Corp., Procter & Gamble Co. , International Business Machines Corp. IBM and KFC owner Yum Brands Inc. The calls, letters and visits included threats to sue the companies and seize assets including trademarks, the people said....**
**More than 350 foreign companies have said they are leaving or temporarily suspending work in Russia...** [end quote]
A few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin last week expressed support for a law to nationalize assets of foreign companies that leave his country over its invasion of Ukraine.
I’d love to create a comedy routine showing Putin plastering the Kremlin with stolen trademarks, which are worth millions.
But it’s no laughing matter when Russian managers are at risk of being arrested in the Stalinist tradition.
Russia represents only a small fraction of these companies’ revenues. But the shutdown will cost the companies and tens of thousands of Russians will lose their jobs.
Late Sunday, after the online publication of this article, Russia’s embassy in Washington re-tweeted it, stamped with a red “FAKE NEWS” label. Is it fake? Will Russia nationalize foreign assets, such as Exxon’s Sakhalin oil field and McDonalds’ 850 restaurants? What about the Russian franchisees who are being told to shut their stores? Will Russia arrest them?
Time will tell.
Wendy