Russian Based Businesses In Area Take Financial Hit from Invasion
by Alex Lloyd Gross
As the Russian invasion into the Ukraine has raised the ire of many nations and individualS, state and local governments are implementing their own sanctions against Russian business interests.
In Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Wolf has ordered that all state stores stop selling Russian Vodka. Across the region, and across the world, similar measures have been implemented as a way to show Vladimir Putin that he was wrong for invading Ukraine. While President Joe Biden has implemented sanctions in the United States, against the Soviet Union, many people are going beyond that. 
Any company having ties to Russia, or selling goods made in Russia is being boycotted. Such as businesses like Lukoil, for example. They operate many filling stations after having taken over Getty . They are owned by a Russian oligarch and across the region, their filling stations have seen a substantial drop in business. Ukrainians and people in America that support Ukraine have taken it upon themselves to not spend money at that business. Lukoil is the second largest company in Russia.
Does that mean the filling stations are completely devoid of customers? No. Some people are ambivalent about the war Others who are of Russian decent support the Soviet Union and still others have ran their gas tanks out and are near empty. “If you need gas and there is no other place around except Lukoil, you are going to go there, I guarantee you that,” said Sal Rosales, who was stopped fueling up his truck at a nearby competitor to Lukoil.
An informal survey of area Lukoil stations shows many empty pumps and few customers. Neighboring stations with comparable prices were seeing more customers than were pulling into a Lukoil across the street.
Some of the boycotts are symbolic. Others will have an effect. If a company produces 10,000 pieces of product , be it gallons of gas, or vodka, and that product sits in a warehouse because there is no demand for it, that will impact Russian jobs. When that happens, many Russian citizens will let their displeasure be known to Putin.