Why Is Accounting Firm KPMG Funding Putin’s Version of Hitler Youth?
Peter,let’s say it would help McDonalds in Russia to serve happy meals showing Russian soldiers killing Americans (say, at the time the US was attacking Yugoslavia) and with little Uncle Sam toys being hung in effigy. Do you really think the parent company would allow this? Of course not.
The KPMG parent in the West has absolute control over how its name is used in Russia. The mere fact that some type of outrageous misconduct might help KPMG make money in Russia is not and should not be sufficient for KPMG, because it could suffer drastic impact on its worldwide business as a result. The Russian market is and always will be tiny and not worth sacrificing Western income for.
Suppose I call for a boycott of KPMG services in the United States because of this shocking action by the Russian offshoot, and supposed a few dozen Fortune 500 firms switch to PriceWaterhouseCoopers as result. Isn’t that something that would suddenly cause KPMG Russia to change its support for Selinger? I think so. I hope companies who support American values will reconsider their relationship with KPMG unless/until it changes its attitude towards Seliger.
If the only way KPMG can make money in Russia is by selling out core human rights values, it should not be trying to make money in Russia.
