Specializing in hygiene products, cosmetics and food, Unilever has announced the sale of all its activities, including its four factories in Russia.
The British hygiene, cosmetics and food products giant Unilever announced on Thursday the sale of its assets in Russia, the maintenance of which since the start of the conflict in Ukraine had been singled out by kyiv and NGOs.
This sale for the benefit of the Arnest group, the largest Russian manufacturer of cosmetics, household items and metal packaging “includes all of Unilever’s activities in Russia and its four factories in the country”, underlines the group’s CEO, Hein Schumacher, in a press release. “Our activities in Belarus are also included.”
The company was added in July 2023 by the Ukrainian National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption to the list of “international sponsors of war”, which lists companies maintaining their activities in Russia. The multinationals on this list, which also include Mondelez and Leroy-Merlin, are accused of financing the Russian war effort in Ukraine via taxes paid on the territory.
An early transfer
“Over the past year, we have carefully prepared Unilever’s operations in Russia for a potential sale,” Hein Schumacher said in the press release, which did not reveal the amount of the transaction.
“This work was very complex and involved the separation of IT platforms and supply chains, as well as the migration of brands to Cyrillic,” he adds.
According to Unilever, the Russian market represented 1% of its 2023 net profit — down 15% to 6.5 billion euros. The company, owner of Dove, Knorr, Miko and Magnum, said it employed around 3,000 people in Russia, where it continued to supply its locally manufactured food and hygiene products. After the Russian invasion, Unilever said it had suspended “all imports and exports to and from Russia” as well as all advertising spending in the country, and was no longer investing there.
“I understand why voices are being raised to ask our company to leave the country,” assured Hein Schumacher in October 2023.
“We remain firm in our condemnation of the war in Ukraine.”
According to an estimate by the Kyiv School of Economics in 2023, Unilever paid at least $331 million (just over 300 million euros) in taxes in 2022 in Russia.
