EXCLUSIVE — Koch Industries is continuing to defend its decision to keep a pair of factories in Russia running as many other American companies shutter their businesses in Russia.
Koch Industries has faced scrutiny since announcing earlier this month that it would keep its small glass manufacturing operation running in Russia despite political pressure facing companies that have chosen to continue business in the country.
Businesses ranging from McDonald’s to Mastercard have suspended their operations in Russia in protest of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Dave Robertson, president and chief operating officer of Koch Industries, wrote in a memo to employees on Thursday that the company was opting to keep its Russia-based glass manufacturing facilities operating in large part out of fear for their employees.
“Russian officials have threatened to punish local employees of manufacturing facilities that shut down,” Robertson wrote in the memo, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Examiner. “We take these threats — and our commitment to our employees — very seriously.”
US WILL TARGET RUSSIAN DEFENSE SECTOR, LAWMAKERS, AND ELITES WITH NEW SANCTIONS
Robertson also noted that Russian authorities have signaled they will take over abandoned manufacturing facilities, like the ones operated by Koch subsidiary Guardian, and continue running them.
“If Guardian were to walk away from these glass facilities, it would give full control of the assets to the Russian government, who we believe would keep them running and capture 100% of the financial benefit,” Robertson said.
The company’s president suggested the media has distorted its decision to leave Guardian’s glassmaking business intact.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with American companies during a virtual address to Congress to pull out of the Russian market.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden accused Koch Industries in a statement last week of seeking “to profit off of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s regime.” The Democrats called on Koch Industries to close its operations in Russia.
But in the memo more fully explaining the Kansas-based company’s decision-making to employees on Thursday, Robertson cited the unique nature of operating glass facilities as one reason why walking away from them is complicated.
“It’s important to note that glass plants cannot simply be shut off, as they are furnaces that typically run continuously for more than 20 years before being torn down and rebuilt,” Robertson wrote. “They do not turn on and off like a light switch.”
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Koch Industries and the political activities of its leader, Charles Koch, are frequent targets of the Left due to the network of conservative and libertarian causes Koch has funded.
Its decision to maintain its relatively small footprint in Russia puts it at odds with many other companies of its size, with hundreds of international companies suspending their work in Russia as Western governments work, with varying degrees of intensity, to isolate Russia from the global economy.
