In Russia, one American man is refusing to close down 190 Papa John’s locations
In Russia, major American chains have been pulling their businesses from the country to push back against the invasion of Ukraine. Christopher Wynne, the franchise operator of 190 Russian Papa John’s, is not. The American entrepreneur is refusing to close down operations, citing no “responsibility or right to comment about the politics in Russia,” The New York Times reports. It’s a questionable claim considering his chains have investments from a large Russian private equity firm and well-known Putin supporters such as hockey star Alex Ovechkin. U.S. sanctions on Russia also won’t affect supply chain imports for Wynne’s restaurants—after Russia illegally annexed Crimea, “we switched to an entirely localized supply chain,” he said. “The only thing we import is olives.” —Alex Hinton
