The head of Unilever announced the threat of nationalization of the “daughter” in the Russian Federation in the event of a decision to leave the country

Continuing to work in Russia, Unilever chose the worst possible scenario, says company president Hein Schumacher. He is quoted by Reuters.

According to him, the company had three options – to try to sell the Russian “daughter”, to refuse to do business in Russia, or to continue working in a “limited way”.

The first option would lead to the nationalization of the company’s Russian business “given all recent developments,” Schumacher said. Recall that last week President Vladimir Putin ordered de facto nationalization shares of the Danish Carlsberg in Baltica and the French Danone in Danone Russia.

“The second option is to sell the company, but the reality is that we have not found a viable solution that would meet our declared goals,” continued Schumacher.

As a result, according to the head of Unilever, there was only one option left – to stay in Russia. At the same time, after the start of the war in Ukraine, the company stopped deliveries to the Russian Federation. Goods for the Russian market are produced exclusively on the territory of the Russian Federation. In addition, Unilever sells only necessities and hygiene products. In Russia, Unilever has four factories: in St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Omsk and Tula.

At the end of 2022, the company valued its Russian assets at EUR 900 million. In its annual report, which Unilever published in February, the company allowed work to stop in the Russian Federation.

Unilever is regularly criticized abroad for continuing to work in Russia. In particular, Ukraine included the company in the list of “war sponsors”. From foreign enterprises, the American confectionery manufacturer Mondelez International (Oreo, Alpen Gold, Milka, etc.), the Chinese car manufacturer Geely, the Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Bank International, the French corporation Auchan Holding, the Hungarian OTP bank, the Italian company Buzzi Unicem went there.