US Investor Jim Rogers Says Companies That Have Left Russia Aid Its Economy

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Renowned US investor Jim Rogers told Sputnik that companies leaving Russia amid the Ukraine conflict are helping rather than hurting its economy.

"McDonald's left Russia, it hasn't hurt Russia. Somebody else has taken McDonald's restaurants and everybody is doing fine," Rogers said. "It certainly helped Russia more than it has hurt Russia. And it has hurt the companies that have left more than it has hurt Russia."

According to Rogers, it is not something new for a company to quit and then come back to a country a few years later after changing its mind, and some companies that recently left will come back to Russia in the future.

McDonald's announced the suspension of its operations in Russia on March 14 due to the country's special military operation in Ukraine. The company cited "operational, technical, and logistical difficulties" as reasons for the closure, although more than 90% of products for the chain were locally produced. The chain was later bought by Russian businessman Alexander Govor for a "symbolic amount."

In addition to McDonald's, a number of other global chains and companies announced their decision to cease business operations in Russia, including IKEA, IBM, Apple, Starbucks, PepsiCo, Visa, Mastercard and others.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the policy of containing and weakening Russia is the West's long-term strategy and that sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy.