Unilever refuses to ‘abandon’ business in Russia

The outgoing boss of Unilever has insisted it will continue to focus on “social purpose”, even as he refused to immediately stop selling products in Russia.

Alan Jope, chief executive of the Marmite, Dove and Magnum owner, said it was a “false dichotomy” to suggest that being ethical was incompatible with solid financial performance, despite criticism from a major shareholder.

However, he added that the company will continue selling food and hygiene products in Russia because “exiting is not straightforward”, The Telegraph reported.

Unilever suspended all investments, imports, exports, advertising and marketing in Russia in 2022, but continues to sell a range of food and hygiene products there.

“Exiting is not straightforward,” said Jope. “We are not trying to protect the commercial value of our business in Russia.”

He added that he did not want to “abandon” approximately 3,000 employees in Russia or have its assets fall into the hands of the Russian state.

Jope said that Unilever had “not been able to find a solution” for a sale of its Russian business.

“There is no straightforward option and simple abandonment would definitely result in more contribution to the Russian economy than the approach we are taking right now,” Jope said.

Unilever, meanwhile, reported underlying sales growth above expectations for 2022, boosted by higher prices for many of its products. It added there are likely to be further price rises ahead.

Jope said Unilever had only passed on 75pc of the costs it faces to consumers and asked shareholders to “bear some of the brunt” of pressures.

“We are acutely conscious of the pinch households are feeling from rising costs,” he said.

Jope’s comments came on the same day that cigarette maker British American Tobacco (BAT) said it was “hopeful” a sale of its own Russian operations could go ahead by the end of 2023.

BAT said it was pushing ahead with attempts to sell its own Russian and Belarusian businesses this year. BAT, which controls almost a quarter of the Russian cigarette market, has been in talks to offload its operations for almost 12 months in the wake of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“It is a complex business. We are not just a retailer selling goods over there. If you are just a retailer and you stop shipping, that’s easy. It can be done tomorrow,” The Telegraph quotes BAT chief executive Jack Bowles as saying.

BAT said last March that it was in advanced talks with SNS Group of Companies – its Russian joint venture partner – to transfer its operations in the country.