After the attack on Ukraine, countless companies withdrew from Russia. The Langnese group Unilever continues to do business there – and has to put up with harsh allegations from Ukraine.
Almost hastily, many companies with the attack on the Ukraine gave up their tents in Russia. Even those who only needed a few weeks had to face the annoyance of the customers. But Unilever is also represented on the Russian market almost a year and a half after the beginning of the war. Ukraine is now raising serious allegations against the group.
Unilever on list of war financiers
The company behind popular brands like Rexona, Dove, Knorr and Langnese has officially landed on the list of companies financing Russia’s war. The list, maintained by Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry and the National Anti-Corruption Agency, names companies and corporations that remain active in Russia. And put their tax payments straight into the war chest.
This is the result of a study by the Kiev School of Economics. Accordingly, Unilever is one of the largest foreign taxpayers in Russia. According to the company, the company paid around 300 million euros to the Russian state last year, and the 1,146 foreign companies still active there paid 3.5 billion euros in taxes in Russia in 2022, according to the study. Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and Pepsi are also among the largest companies still active there.
That’s what Unilever says about the Russia decision
Unilever had already tried to justify this decision in the spring. “We continue to condemn the war in Ukraine as a brutal and senseless act of violence by the Russian state,” it said. Simply ending the business is “not that easy”. According to the company, it does not want to risk abandoning its own local employees or accept a takeover by the Russian state if a complete sale is under discussion. So, according to their own statements, the decision was made to “continue business under strict restrictions”.
In plain language, this means: Unilever no longer imports goods to Russia or imports anything from there. There would also be no more advertising. However, the locally manufactured goods and products are still sold in the country. “To be clear: We don’t find any of the solutions worth striving for,” emphasizes the group. But you prefer this way to the other two. “But we understand calls to leave Russia,” the company said at the request of the British “BBC” on Tuesday.
However, the decision always damages the image of the group. On Monday, demonstrators in central London erected a poster opposite the company headquarters that was reminiscent of an advertising campaign by the Dove soap brand. In a nod to the brand’s famous diversity campaign, it featured Ukrainian soldiers in white, displaying their prostheses from limbs lost in action. “Dove – Helps fund Russian war in Ukraine” was emblazoned next to it. The addressee of the poster was clear: Hein Schumacher started his new job as the company’s new CEO on Monday. And should not have been happy about the action.
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Source: Stern
