Ukraine's National Agency for Anti-Corruption (NACP) on Wednesday labeled sandwich franchise Subway an “international war sponsor” of Ukraine for continuing to operate more than 500 stores across Russia and helping finance Moscow's war against Kiev. announced that it was on the list.
In a NACP press release, the agency said Subway actively advertises through licensed Russian social networks and distributes through Yandex, Russia's main search engine.
The Milford, Conn.-based company joins a list of other companies with operations in Russia, including PepsiCo, Philip Morris International and Procter & Gamble, the agency said.
Subway has been operating in Russia for more than 20 years, with 550 restaurants in 122 cities, making the Russian sandwich chain the third largest in Europe, and the agency said it was involved in “funding the murder of Ukrainians. It has been added to the list of .
This is not the first time the sandwich chain has found itself in controversy since it was first pressured to close in 2022 at the beginning of Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
“Since the full-scale invasion, Subway has not reported any reduction in its operations in Russia,” Ukrainian officials said, adding that the company still collects royalty payments from its Russian operations.
The company has declared that it supports Ukraine because of its franchise business model, but will not suspend or cancel operations in Russia.
A statement from the sandwich chain said: “Our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine and we are committed to supporting those affected by the tragic events in the region.” “In addition to working with our franchisees across Europe to feed refugees, we will direct profits from our operations in Russia to humanitarian efforts supporting Ukrainians affected by the war.”
The company also added that all Russian restaurants are independently owned and operated by local franchisees and managed by an independent master franchisee.
“We do not directly control these independent franchisees and their restaurants,” the company said.
FOX Business has reached out to Subway for comment, but has not yet received a response.
