The British company Unilever, which is one of the world leaders in the production of household chemicals and food products, announced its final withdrawal from the markets of Russia and Belarus.
The CEO of the company Hein Schumacher informed about this, but did not specify the amount of the deal or other details.
"Unilever today completed the sale of its Russian subsidiary — Arnest Group — to the Russian perfumery, cosmetics and homewares manufacturer," he said.
The company sold its entire business in Russia, including four plants.
Preparation for the sale lasted more than a year — for this, IT platforms and supply chains were separated, and brands switched to the Cyrillic alphabet.
"The completion of the sale ends the presence of Unilever Russia in the country," the companyʼs CEO Hein Schumacher emphasized.
Members of B4Ukraine, which seeks to force Western companies to cut ties with Russia, welcomed Unileverʼs decision to sell its assets and called on other Western companies, including “Cadbury Mondelez International”, “PepsiCo”, “P&G”, “Nestle” and “Mars”, to do the same.
What preceded
After Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Unilever stopped supplying products to the Russian Federation and exporting goods from its territory. At the same time, the companyʼs four plants in Russia continued to produce goods.
In July 2023, the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) listed “Unilever” as an international war sponsor.
In September of this year, the Russian government allowed the Unilever company to sell its assets in the country, in particular, the “Unilever” Russia branch, which owns such brands as “Chistaya Linia”, “Barkhatnye Ruchki”, “Chornyi Zhemchug”.
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