The Russian Embassy in the United States has claimed that reports about Western businesses being threatened by Russian prosecutors were not true.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday that “Russian prosecutors” had “issued warnings to Western companies in Russia, threatening to arrest corporate leaders there who criticize the government or to seize assets of companies that withdraw from the country.”
The newspaper cited unnamed sources “familiar with the matter” and claimed Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble (P&G), and KFC were just a few of the companies that had allegedly been threatened.
On Sunday, Russia’s US embassy rejected the allegations, publishing a photo of a “fake news” stamp over the Wall Street Journal’s report.
“Once again, we urge local media to abandon the vicious practice of spreading fake news. The Wall Street Journal opus is pure fiction,” said the embassy, before claiming that “even in the most difficult situation, US commercial interests in the capacious Russian market are not infringed in any way.”
The embassy argued that the decision of “whether to continue entrepreneurial activity in our country is entirely up to the Americans,” and said it would ultimately require the companies to “ignore the russophobic hysteria that encourages foreign businesses to suffer huge losses in order to hit Russia.”
While the idea of nationalizing Western companies who pull out of the Russian market was proposed by the Public Consumer Initiative (OPI) – a consumer protection group – and the ruling United Russia party, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet weighed in on the matter.
Last week, a Kremlin spokesperson said there was “no formed position on this matter” and that “all sorts of scenarios” were “being considered” by the government.