Subway, a popular sandwich franchise, is now listed by Ukraine as one of the “international war sponsors.” They’re criticized for running over 500 stores in Russia, which helps fund Russia’s war against Ukraine, as stated by the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) on Wednesday.
The NACP explained in a press release that Subway actively advertises on sanctioned Russian social networks and delivers through Yandex, Russia’s main search engine. This puts Subway among other companies like PepsiCo, Philip Morris International, and Procter & Gamble, doing business in Russia, according to the agency.
Subway has been in Russia for over 20 years, operating 550 restaurants in 122 cities. This makes it the third-largest sandwich chain in Europe and contributes to the funding of what the agency calls “murders of Ukrainians.”
Subway, a popular sandwich franchise, is now listed by Ukraine as one of the “international war sponsors.”
This isn’t the first time Subway faced criticism. In 2022, when Putin invaded Ukraine, they were urged to close operations. However, despite the invasion, Subway hasn’t reduced its operations in Russia. They continue to collect royalty payments from their Russian business.
Subway expressed solidarity with Ukraine but stated their franchise model limits their ability to pause or halt operations in Russia. They mentioned redirecting profits from Russia to humanitarian efforts supporting Ukrainians affected by the war. Subway mentioned providing meals to refugees through their European franchisees.
Subway clarified that their Russian restaurants are independently owned and operated by local franchisees and managed by an independent master franchisee. They stated they don’t directly control these independent franchisees and their restaurants.
FOX Business reached out to Subway for comment but hasn’t received a response yet.
