American and European Corporations are closing Russian operations, ceasing the export of goods into Russia, as well as the import and sale of Russian goods. It is an unprecedented display of justice over profit by companies big and small in response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. There is one company that has refused to pull out of Russia and continues operations and the distribution of its products there: Koch Industries. The financiers of everything un-American and anti-democratic have refused to follow the example of the rest of Corporate America.
Guardian a subsidiary of Koch has two massive production facilities in Russia. According to Popular Information:
The company added "a new jumbo laminated glass production line" to that facility in August 2021. Another facility is located in Rostov, Russia, near the border with Ukraine. The Rostov plant, which began operations about a decade ago, cost $220 million to build and produces "Guardian’s high-performance, energy-efficient ClimaGuard(R) (residential) and SunGuard(R) (commercial) glass products for construction of homes, offices, retail, health-care and other facilities." It is capable of producing "900 tons of glass per day."
Another Koch subsidiary, electronic components manufacturer Molex, continues to distribute its products through third-party distributors in Russia. Molex has said that it has no intention of suspending its business in Russia. Koch Engineered Solutions is another Koch company.
Koch Industries also owns Koch Engineered Solutions, a subsidiary that "specialize[s] in process and pollution control equipment that help industrial facilities to operate responsibly." According to Popular Information, Koch Engineered Solutions runs a sales office out of Moscow. The company reportedly has a history of evading U.S. sanctions to support its bottom line. — Salon
In addition to maintaining all its business ties to Russia, Koch funds groups opposed to imposing sanctions on Russia.
The current Koch family continues its toxic tradition. It made its fortune supporting Stalin and then Hitler. Now it lends a hand to Putin. Koch is not alone in support of Putin, while companies like Starbucks and McDonalds have closed hundreds of Russian stores at the expense of their bottom line, Halliburton, Cargill, Subway, and Amway, among others, have joined Koch in refusing to exit Russia.
It seems the corporate financial backers of Republican extremism and promoters of unrestrained greed over people are circling the wagons around Putin.
The battle lines between Democracy and Fascism are now drawn. Every company that aids and abets Putin should be forever shunned and driven into bankruptcy.