Consumer goods giant Unilever finally quits Russia after backlash

Unilever has finally pulled out of Russia after being branded an ‘international sponsor of war’.

The consumer giant, whose brands include Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s ice creams, Dove soap and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, has continued to sell goods in Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

But yesterday boss Hein Schumacher confirmed a deal with Russian consumer goods group Arnest, owned by a billionaire dubbed the ‘hairspray king’, thought to be worth around £435m. 

The deal included all Unilever’s business in Russia – where there are four factories- and in Belarus. The business has around 3,000 staff.

Schumacher said: ‘Over the past year, we have been preparing the Unilever Russia business for a potential sale.’

He said this had involved ‘very complex’ work including separating IT platforms and supply chains, as well as prebrands paring brands to use the Russian alphabet.

‘The sale ends Unilever Russia’s presence in the country,’ Schumacher added.

Campaigners said the move should pave the way for other consumer giants to follow suit.

There are ‘no excuses’ for including Mondelez, PepsiCo, Mars, Nestle and P&G, said Nataliya Popovych, a co-founder of the B4Ukraine coalition. 

‘Unilever’s case shows that, given enough political will, a clean exit from Russia is possible, despite financial obstacles imposed by the Kremlin,’ she said.

Arnest, which makes perfumes, cosmetics and household goods, is run by Alexey Sagal who has cashed in on the Western firms leaving by buying the Russian units of drinks packager Ball’s and brewer Heineken.

Ukraine dubbed Unilever an ‘international sponsor of war’. 

And campaigners argued it was indirectly funding war through business taxes. Boss Schumacher had insisted that staying in Russia was ‘the least bad option’.

Leaving could mean the business falls into Russian state hands, Schumacher and his team argued.

Mark Dixon, founder of charity Moral Rating Agency, which aims to get firms out of Russia, said: ‘Unilever gets no medal for dancing with the devil for two-and-a-half years.’

The Mail on Sunday revealed last year that FTSE 100 giant Coca-Cola HBC refused to close factories in Russia, and switched to selling a local cola.

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