Unilever Shares Hold Steady After Ukraine Calls Consumer Giant ‘War Sponsor’
LONDON — Unilever shares edged up slightly on Tuesday after Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention added the owner of brands including Dove, Vaseline and Ren to its International Sponsors of War list.
The company’s shares on the London Stock Exchange were up 0.4 percent at 41.3 pounds at the close of trading on Tuesday, a day after the anti-corruption agency’s chief issued a statement accusing Unilever of “contributing to [Vladimir] Putin’s war machine.”
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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.”
Novikov called on Unilever’s incoming chief executive officer Hein Schumacher to make a “new start and live up to [Unilever’s] values of human rights.” He believes Unilever should “leave Russia now, or history will record its complicity.”
Schumacher was announced as Alan Jope’s replacement earlier this year and stepped into the role on July 1.
He was most recently CEO of Royal FrieslandCampina, an international dairy and nutrition business, and was named a non-executive director of Unilever in 2022.
Unilever declined to comment on the NACP statement on Tuesday, and said it stands by its previously stated position on trading in Russia.
Earlier this year Unilever issued a statement confirming that since March 2022 it has ceased all imports and exports of its products into and out of Russia. It has also put an end to all media and advertising spend and capital flows into and out of the country.
At the same time, Unilever said it continues to supply everyday food and hygiene products made in Russia to people in the country.
“We understand why there are calls for Unilever to leave Russia. We also want to be clear that we are not trying to protect or manage our business in Russia. However, for companies like Unilever, which have a significant physical presence in the country, exiting is not straightforward,” the statement said.
Unilever argued that it does not have many options in Russia. The company said closing down the business would mean the loss of around 3,000 jobs, and a chance for the Russian state to take control.
“It is clear that were we to abandon our business and brands in the country, they would be appropriated — and then operated — by the Russian state. In addition, we do not think it is right to abandon our people in Russia,” the company said.
Unilever added that selling the business could lead to “the Russian state potentially gaining further benefit,” while the third option “is to allow the business to run with the strict constraints” that Unilever put in place last March.
The company added that “none of these options is desirable. Nevertheless, we believe the third remains the best option, both to avoid the risk of our business ending up in the hands of the Russian state, either directly or indirectly, and to help protect our people.”
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