Russian Exodus
The Bottom Line
BBC
4.6 • 615 Ratings
🗓️ 21 July 2022
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Hundreds of western businesses have decided to stop operating in Russia as a result of the invasion of Ukraine. But what does leaving Russia actually mean in practical terms – how do you go about it and who bears the cost? Can you end up hurting your own company and your Russian workers more than the Russian state? Evan Davis debates with his guests, one of whom leads a global automotive dealer that has just sold its business in Russia to its local managers.
GUESTS: James Alexander, Chief Executive of the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association John Morrison, CEO of the Institute for Human Rights and Business Duncan Tait, CEO of automotive dealer Inchcape
Producer: Lucinda Borrell Sound: Rod Farquhar Editor: Jon Bithrey Production Co-Ordinators: Siobhan Reed and Helena Warwick-Cross
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.0 | Hello, welcome to the programme. |
| 0:06.8 | For many companies doing business in Russia, the invasion of Ukraine made it simply unthinkable |
| 0:12.5 | that commerce could carry on as though nothing had happened. |
| 0:15.8 | So the five months of war have seen a business exodus, rapid and massive. |
| 0:21.3 | McDonald's pulled out of Russia in protest at the invasion of Ukraine, and it sold its restaurants |
| 0:26.2 | here, more than 800 of them, to a Russian businessman. |
| 0:30.2 | The world's biggest plane maker, Boeing, says it's suspending operations in Russia as well, |
| 0:34.7 | and limited services from the likes of Apple, Ford, Nike. |
| 0:39.0 | Starbucks has become the latest Western company to announce it's leaving Russia permanently. |
| 0:43.9 | ExxonMobil says it's ending a multi-billion dollar joint venture with a Russian state-owned company |
| 0:49.3 | Rosneft following the similar moves by BP, Shell, Ecuador. |
| 0:53.0 | Well, we thought we might delve into what the words |
| 0:55.7 | leaving Russia mean for a business, and who pays the price for that. |
| 1:00.9 | So let us start with a guest who has been running a business |
| 1:04.0 | that has extricated itself from Russian operations. |
| 1:07.0 | Duncan Tate, Chief Executive of Inchcape. |
| 1:10.1 | Now, Inchcape operates car dealerships for well-known motor manufacturers across many parts of the world, |
| 1:16.1 | and up until very recently, that list of countries included Russia. |
| 1:20.7 | Duncan, just tell us a little about the company. |
| 1:22.6 | We operate in over 40 markets around the world, |
| 1:25.2 | and we run countries for what we call OEMs or automotive manufacturing |
... |
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