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Unilever hit over £750 million Russia sales bonanza: British firm behind Marmite and Cornetto accused of making ‘blood money’
The British company behind Marmite and Cornetto was accused last night of making ‘blood money’ after it racked up three-quarters of a billion pounds in sales in Russia.
Unilever, whose brands also include Dove soap and Hellmann’s mayonnaise, has sparked outrage by refusing to leave the country in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
In a stellar run of results yesterday, the company reported sales of £750 million in Russia for 2022 and profits of £147 million.
‘Blood money’: Unilever, led by boss Alan Jope (pictured), reported £750m in Russia sales for 2022 and profits of £147m in a mammoth set of results yesterday
Activists said the amount Unilever made from Russia “exceeds our worst fears” and called the sale “blood money”.
It’s a great shame for a company known for trying to polish its ‘woke’ credentials.
US anti-corruption activist Bill Browder said: “Unilever management has blood on its hands by taking advantage of the Russian economy. History will judge this decision very badly.’
Unilever, whose catalog of household items also includes bleach from Domestos and ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s, defended its position.
Chief executive Alan Jope argued that leaving Russia was “not easy” and that it was not trying to protect commercial interests by staying.
The 60-year-old, who will step down in July, said that if he quits, Unilever’s operations will fall into the hands of Vladimir Putin and its assets and brands will be “appropriated by the Russian state.”
He also said it would be “not right” to abandon 3,500 employees, adding that the company supports efforts to help the suffering in Ukraine “to the utmost”, for example through donations to UNICEF.
However, it would “continue to assess and disclose the financial implications of the conflict.”
But the Moral Rating Agency, a lobby group that monitors Western companies operating in Russia, called on Unilever to “move in the moral direction and side with democracy and civilisation.”
After estimating last week that Unilever made £556 million in sales in Russia last year, the agency’s founder, Mark Dixon, said: ‘Unilever’s blood money exceeds our worst fears. They cash in in Russia and draw a snook at all civilized people.
“Unilever should no longer hide behind its balance sheet and excuses to face the reality that selling an ice cream can enable Putin to pay for a bullet.”
Labor MP Chris Bryant said: ‘I can’t believe the apologies. It’s as if they’ve completely lost their sense of decency, or they’re happy to remain complicit in the war in Russia.”
In March, Unilever promised to create an economic fence around the country and to suspend all imports and exports of its products to and from Russia.
It pledged to sell only locally made “essential food and hygiene products” in Russia. It has since been revealed that it still sells Magnums and Cornettos in Russia.
When asked about Ukraine, Jope said, “Of course we absolutely condemn the war in Ukraine as a cruel, senseless, unnecessary act of the Russian state.”