It’s official, Unilever is leaving the Russian market. The British hygiene, cosmetics and food products giant Unilever announced this Thursday the sale of its assets in Russia. In detail, this sale is for the benefit of the Arnest group, the largest Russian manufacturer of cosmetics, household items and metal packaging. She thus understands “ all Unilever 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 “, he specifies.
« Over the past year, we have carefully prepared Unilever’s operations in Russia for a potential sale », Says the CEO, who does not reveal the amount of the transaction.
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« 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 accounted for 1% of its 2023 net profit – down 15% to 6.5 billion euros. The company, owner of Dove, Knorr, Miko and Magnum, claimed to employ around 3,000 people in Russia, where it continued to supply its locally manufactured food and hygiene products.
Accused of financing the Russian war effort
But in July 2023, the company was added by the Ukrainian National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption to the list of “ international sponsors of the war ”, which lists companies now operating 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.
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After the Russian invasion, Unilever claimed to have suspended “ all imports and exports from and to Russia » as well as all advertising expenses in the country, and no longer invest there.
« I understand why voices are being raised to ask our company to leave the countryassured Hein Schumacher in October 2023. We remain firm in our condemnation of the war in Ukraine ».
In its annual results for 2022, the group indicated that 2% of its net profit came from Russia – on a net profit up 26% to 7.6 billion euros. 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.
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Many companies singled out
In addition to Unilever, French groups and brands such as Auchan, Yves Rocher, Bonduelle and Leroy Merlin appear on the Ukrainian list of “ war sponsors “. In July, a report from the NGO Global Witness also singled out the French TotalEnergies, marketing Russian gas. The energy giant justified itself by saying it was bound by current contracts, although it withdrew from Russian partnerships after the invasion of Ukraine last year.
The agri-food giant Danone also announced in May the sale of its activities in Russia, where it had established itself in 1992. At the end of March, the French group indicated that it had obtained the Russian regulatory authorizations required to sell to a man business linked to the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov his subsidiary, of which he had already lost control.
(With AFP)
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