After a string of generous gestures in February and March, corporate support of Ukraine has largely tapered off.
When a war breaks out, there is often a stream of solidarity statements and donations that ultimately fizzles out as the world’s attention shifts.
Within a week after Russian forces entered Ukraine on Feb. 24 and launched a full-scale attack, companies as diverse as Netflix (NFLX) – Get Netflix Inc. Report, Walt Disney Co. (DIS) – Get The Walt Disney Company Report, Meta Platforms’ (META) – Get Meta Platforms Inc. Report Instagram, Boeing (BA) – Get The Boeing Company Report and ExxonMobil (XOM) – Get Exxon Mobil Corporation Report all pulled their business out of the country.
At the time, the reasoning went that the economic damage inflicted by such a full-scale exit would either force Russia’s government to scale back the invasion out of fear for its economy or Russian citizens to protest their leadership’s actions.
But now nearly six months into the war, the near-daily shelling of Ukrainian cities continues while countless Ukrainians are left displaced either internally or in neighboring countries — some estimates show that ten million Ukrainians, or roughly a fourth of the country, have had to flee their homes while the damage inflicted to Ukraine’s infrastructure has most recently been pegged at $100 billion and counting.
Who’s (Still) Helping Ukraine?
While the situation in the country is getting worse by most accounts, the prolonged nature of the fighting has inevitably led to a shift in both media and individual attention — Google Trends (GOOGL) – Get Alphabet Inc. Report data shows that searches of both “Ukraine war” and “Ukraine” fell like a steep cliff after peaking at the end of February.
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While corporate solidarity statements and donations usually also follow a similar trajectory in a prolonged crisis, some have been supporting the Eastern European nation throughout the summer.
Balenciaga, the fashion house owned by the larger luxury company Kering (PPRUF) , has recently unveiled a €200 Ukraine sweatshirt the proceeds of which will all go toward rebuilding the country.
Baykar, a private Turkish company supplying many armies with defense weapons, recently donated a Bayraktar drone to the Ukrainian army — after volunteers in Poland raised the 22.5 million Polish zloty ($4.8 million) needed to buy it, the company decided to hand it over for free and have the money go toward something else in the country.
While the U.S. government has continued sending money and weapons to the country (a bill approving an additional $450 million in aid was approved on June 23), corporate donations came primarily in March in April — back then, Swedish furniture company IKEA donated 2 million euros ($2.03 million) toward rebuilding the damage inflicted by the war while Google pledged $15 million in support (although a large part of f it came in the form of advertising credits) and Airbnb (ABNB) – Get Airbnb Inc. Report offered to match up to $10 million in donations made in March.
The Situation Is Deteriorating but Interest Is Waning
Balenciaga
Amazon (AMZN) – Get Amazon.com Inc. Report is one of the companies that has been publishing regular updates after initial pledges to support the country — in June, it partnered with resettlement agency Welcome.US to donate $2 million of goods to those displaced by the war.
“Amazon has committed to deliver 200,000 hygiene kits to partner charities, bringing together our employee volunteer network with Clean the World, a social enterprise focused on providing recycled soap and hygiene supplies to those who have limited access to these products,” the company wrote in another update on June 7.
But even so, the time of corporate statements and large-donations-as-PR has largely tapered off — a situation that many activists are trying hard to turn around as civilian casualties continue to rise to over 12,000.
