Jeremy Levine says he took last weekend to gather himself after learning he and other employees of the 15 minute grocery app company, Buyk would be furloughed in the wake of U.S. sanctions against Russia.

“We were notified we were furloughed about 98% of employees because of funding issues that had to do with getting money from our founders and investors in Russia,” Levine said, who’s been with the company for about five months.

What You Need To Know

  • Jeremy Levine was one of hundreds of employees of the 15 minute grocery app company, Buyk, furloughed in the wake of U.S. Sanctions against Russia

  • A notification letter employees received cited unforeseen circumstances causing the company to temporarily reduce its workforce

  • Buyk launched its operations in the city last year with coverage in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx

  • NY1 has reached out to Buyk for comments on the company’s future and have not heard back at the time of this report

He and others received a notification letter citing unforeseen circumstances, causing the company to have to temporarily reduce its workforce. Buyk, launched here in the city last year, promising ultrafast grocery delivery service. It’s coverage area included Manhattan, Brooklyn, parts of Queens and the Bronx.

“Everybody was treated with the utmost respect, obviously nothing that happened had nothing to do with the productivity or the company and the performance of the company,” revealed Levine.

Levine added that up until about a week and a half ago the company seemed to be thriving.

“We were expanding stores in New York and there were plans to expand elsewhere in the country,” Levine said.

“Once we got word of the news of the war and the attacks starting from Russia into the Ukraine there was a little bit of a pull back,” he added.

Because of U.S. sanctions, other companies in the city with Russian connections are also closing up shop. Another 15 minute grocery delivery app company, ‘Fridge No More’ posted a message on Instagram saying it’s unfortunately closing its business, effective immediately.

For hundreds of employees the abrupt closures stirred concerns of payment for time worked. Levine said that’s no longer a concern.

“Everybody was to be payed by Monday and as far as I know we were all paid for our time,” he said.

Although having expenses for an upcoming wedding this year, Levine says he’s focusing on the positive.

“What’s going across the world is really unfortunate and there’s no comparison to what the people of Ukraine are going through at this time,” Levine emphasized.