07.04.23
Unilever has been named an international sponsor of war by Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) after the company became subject to Russian law forcing all large companies operating in the country to contribute directly to its war effort. Other companies on the list include Procter & Gamble and Groupe Rocher.
The move came as campaigners called on Unilever’s new CEO, Hein Schumacher, who started work this weekend, to withdraw from Russia, where its local business continues to sell “essential” products from tea to ice-cream, after evidence emerged that it paid Moscow $331 million in taxes last year.
The Ukraine Solidarity Project (USP) on Monday erected a giant billboard outside the Anglo-Dutch consumer group’s London headquarters featuring pictures of wounded Ukrainian soldiers – posing in the style of the Dove beauty brand’s advertisements – and the slogan: “Helping to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
Shares in Unilever were flat on Tuesday. The company’s shares on the London Stock Exchange held steady at 41.16 pounds in late morning trading on Tuesday, July 4, a day after the anti-corruption agency’s chief issued a statement accusing Unilever of “contributing to [Vladimir] Putin’s war machine.”
NACP chief Oleksandr Novikov said the agency has added Unilever to its sponsors of war list because its “hundreds of millions in tax contributions to the Russian state are helping to fund its attacks on Ukraine, and could be indirectly funding a mercenary criminal group.”
In March, Unilever announced plans to invest 20 million euros in a new plant in Ukraine. The new factory will create around 100 jobs and will manufacture personal care products including shampoos and shower gels for brands such as Dove, Axe, TRESemmé and Clear. The hub will predominantly supply the local Ukrainian market but has future potential to export to European markets.
The factory will also be built to the highest environmental standards using renewable energy technologies, contributing to Unilever’s target of net zero emissions across its value chain by 2039.
The move came as campaigners called on Unilever’s new CEO, Hein Schumacher, who started work this weekend, to withdraw from Russia, where its local business continues to sell “essential” products from tea to ice-cream, after evidence emerged that it paid Moscow $331 million in taxes last year.
The Ukraine Solidarity Project (USP) on Monday erected a giant billboard outside the Anglo-Dutch consumer group’s London headquarters featuring pictures of wounded Ukrainian soldiers – posing in the style of the Dove beauty brand’s advertisements – and the slogan: “Helping to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine.”
Shares in Unilever were flat on Tuesday. The company’s shares on the London Stock Exchange held steady at 41.16 pounds in late morning trading on Tuesday, July 4, a day after the anti-corruption agency’s chief issued a statement accusing Unilever of “contributing to [Vladimir] Putin’s war machine.”
NACP chief Oleksandr Novikov said the agency has added Unilever to its sponsors of war list because its “hundreds of millions in tax contributions to the Russian state are helping to fund its attacks on Ukraine, and could be indirectly funding a mercenary criminal group.”
In March, Unilever announced plans to invest 20 million euros in a new plant in Ukraine. The new factory will create around 100 jobs and will manufacture personal care products including shampoos and shower gels for brands such as Dove, Axe, TRESemmé and Clear. The hub will predominantly supply the local Ukrainian market but has future potential to export to European markets.
The factory will also be built to the highest environmental standards using renewable energy technologies, contributing to Unilever’s target of net zero emissions across its value chain by 2039.