After the Russian invasion of Ukraine‚ Koch Industries has faced criticism for continuing to operate in Russia. However‚ in a statement published on its website today‚ an executive said that exiting would do more harm than good. The company is the second largest privately held company in the United States and employs 14‚000 people in 26 countries. The president of Koch has donated millions of dollars to conservative causes‚ including the Republican Party. The multinational conglomerate is still small in Russia‚ but its presence is significant‚ and it says exiting would do more harm than good. While it is not yet a significant presence in the country‚ its operations have been profitable for decades. The company has invested more than $10 billion in two glass plants in the country‚ producing energy-efficient glass. It also employs nearly a thousand people there. While it is unclear if the company is going to withdraw from its Russian operations‚ it has defended its decision to stay in the country‚ which is contrary to its stated intentions.
Although its presence in Russia is relatively small‚ it has a substantial impact on the region‚ according to Dave Robertson‚ the company's president and chief operating officer. Its efforts have helped the local economy while also contributing to the development of other nations.
2. Given how small Koch says its Russian operation is, hard not to see this as purely symbolic, sending the message that all Koch’s talk of rights and liberty means nothing. Making money is what they value. https://t.co/ec3e3axBC5 — Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) March 16, 2022
🧵The @stand_together community supports targeted sanctions against Russia in response to its immoral invasion of Ukraine. We also believe that sanctions are a legitimate tool of statecraft. However, broad-based economic sanctions rarely achieve their desired policy outcomes(1/3) — Dan Caldwell (@dandcaldwell) March 14, 2022