美国国家公共电台 NPR--The world's largest companies continue to abandon Russia after it invaded Ukraine

The world's largest companies continue to abandon Russia after it invaded Ukraine

Transcript¹

Most multinational² companies have cut ties with Russia. An era of economic openness that started when McDonald's opened its first restaurant in Moscow in 1990, is coming to a close.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Goldman Sachs is the first big American bank to announce it's leaving Russia over the country's invasion of Ukraine. It's just one of the latest companies in a growing mass exodus³ that also includes Apple, McDonald's and Pepsi. As NPR's David Gura reports, this major economic blow also signals a seismic⁴ shift.

DAVID GURA, BYLINE⁵: Each company's departure confirms a pivotal chapter in Russia's recent history is coming to an end, some three decades after it got started in January of 1990. That's when the Soviet⁶ Union really started to open up its economy after decades of isolation⁷, and global broadcasters, including ABC and the CBC, were there to mark the transition.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Well, it's been 14 years in the making, and today, finally, McDonald's threw open the doors to its first restaurant in Moscow.

GURA: That four-story building on Pushkin Square was at first a spectacle, but it became a kind of landmark⁸. Thousands of curious customers lined up on opening day to buy fries and Big Macs - which weren't cheap, by the way, as Bob Edwards noted⁹ on MORNING EDITION.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

BOB EDWARDS: At 3 rubles and 75 kopeks, it costs about 13% of the average worker's weekly salary.

GURA: And not lost on the reporters who were there - including Ann Cooper, who was NPR's Moscow correspondent - was the significance of what McDonald's was doing.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

ANN COOPER: It's an ambitious attempt to introduce some basic concepts of capitalism¹⁰ in a state-controlled economy.

GURA: Not long after, as the twilight¹¹ of the Soviet Union gave way to the dawn of a new Russia, just about every major multinational followed in McDonald's footsteps. Russia became part of the global economy. Starbucks opened its first store in 2007. You could buy cars from General Motors, Harley-Davidsons and Apple iPhones. Then, two weeks ago, Russia invaded Ukraine. Oil giant BP decided¹² to leave Russia, and that led to an exodus. This week, under mounting pressure, McDonald's decided to suspend its operations in Russia. It will close its restaurants in some 850 locations across the country.

DANIEL TREISMAN: It's really a shocking reversal.

GURA: Daniel Treisman is a professor of political science at UCLA, and he was a regular at that first Pushkin Square McDonald's when he lived in Moscow in the early 1990s. At a time when store shelves were bare and there were long lines for bread, he could count on it for a reliable meal. Now that's over.

TREISMAN: The Iron Curtain is coming down again, or a different kind of curtain's coming down. And I think Russians are just horrified¹³ at losing connection to this world that they've been living in for the last 30 years.

GURA: This will have a profound effect on the Russian people, Treisman says, and also on Russia's economy. McDonald's says it plans to continue paying salaries to its 62,000 workers, but other companies have not made the same commitment. The unemployment rate is going to surge, and the collapse¹⁴ in the ruble will fuel widespread inflation. So there will be hardship. But Chris Miller¹⁵, an historian at Tufts University, says it's really more than that.

CHRIS MILLER: It's not just a question of statistics of the economy shrinking a couple percentage points or inflation going up a couple of percentage points.

GURA: Russians will no doubt miss being able to buy electronics and clothing from brands like Levi's. But Miller says the departure of so many companies marks a return to isolation from the global economy.

MILLER: Russia has gotten access to foreign consumer goods and also a lot of technology and expertise¹⁶ from Western firms. And in the past couple of weeks, all that's been thrown into a very rapid reverse.

GURA: Russia has come to rely heavily on imports, and Russian firms, Miller notes, have become integrated with global supply chains. Just like in the Soviet days, domestic industry is not evolved enough to step up.

MILLER: Russia's entire industrial economy is going to face wrenching¹⁷ difficulties as they try - in many cases, I think, fail - to find alternatives to Western products.

GURA: And those wrenching difficulties, he says, will throw into sharp relief how President Putin's gambit has made Russia a pariah¹⁸.

David Gura, NPR News, New York.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

3 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

4 seismic   

a.地震的，地震强度的

参考例句：

• Earthquakes produce two types of seismic waves.地震产生两种地震波。
• The latest seismic activity was also felt in northern Kenya.肯尼亚北部也感觉到了最近的地震活动。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

8 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

11 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

14 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

15 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

16 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

17 wrenching   

n.修截苗根，苗木铲根（铲根时苗木不起土或部分起土）v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的现在分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛

参考例句：

• China has been through a wrenching series of changes and experiments. 中国经历了一系列艰苦的变革和试验。 来自辞典例句
• A cold gust swept across her exposed breast, wrenching her back to reality. 一股寒气打击她的敞开的胸膛，把她从梦幻的境地中带了回来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

18 pariah   

n.被社会抛弃者

参考例句：

• Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿，汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
• His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。