Bay Area tech companies work to protect workers in Ukraine

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) - "They're very concerned, we're all very concerned. This all escalated quite rapidly.”

Andy Kurtzig is the founder of San Francisco-based justanswer.com. For him, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is personal.  

260 of his workers live there.

"For example, we have a 5 threat level plan, right now at the threat level, we're actively moving people from the east to the west,” Kurtzig said. 

He's not alone. He says other Silicon Valley tech companies also have a presence in Ukraine, which he says could have worldwide implications.

"Most companies that you know or have people in Ukraine. Google has people in Ukraine. Amazon has got people in Ukraine. Oracle's got people in Ukraine,” Kurtzig said. 

Kurtzig says as the conflict heats up, there have already been impacts on his workers.

"The bank that we use in Ukraine is one of the banks that was cyber-attacked is one of the biggest, if not the biggest in Ukraine. So that's how we pay our employees through that bank. They're not going to be able to buy groceries or pay their rent and buy the emergency supplies that they need. It's one of the things that they're protecting ourselves against,” Kurtzig said. 

He calls the invasion devastating.

"It's not just devastating for us, and not just devastating for our people in Ukraine. It's devastating for democracy. What Putin is trying to do is trying to take away Ukraine's freedom,” Kurtzig said. 

Kurtzig says he remains committed to doing business in Ukraine.

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