Hard Luk stories

You think you’ve got problems, but at least you’re not stuck running Russian-branded gas stations when literally the entire world has (for understandable reasons) turned on all things Russian:

The cash price for unleaded gas posted outside Michael Tusinac’s window at his gas station in Morristown, N.J.: $4.49 a gallon. The price would rise another 10 cents within two days. But the bigger problem was the station’s red and white Lukoil sign.

“It’s killing me,” Tusinac said.

He was on the phone with his landlord, Kashmir Gill, who also runs a Lukoil gas station, just up the road in Whippany.

The two men shared their laments at being tied to a Russian oil giant that is now a target for American protests over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Lukoil is a corporate pariah. Two decades ago, it entered the U.S. market harboring big dreams, with even Vladimir Putin flying in for the opening of one Lukoil station. Now, its gas stations face boycotts and calls to shut down.

Tusinac has had picketers some…