The Anglo-Dutch company Unilever, a leader in the production of food products, household chemicals, and personal hygiene products, has declared it will comply with russian conscription law if its employees are called up for military service.
This was stated in a letter from the company to the B4Ukraine group, which advocates for ceasing operations in russia, The Guardian reports.
In particular, Reginaldo Ecclissato, Unilever’s chief business operations and supply chain officer, wrote that the company "is aware of the law requiring any company operating in russia to permit the conscription of employees should they be called."
"We always comply with all the laws of the countries we operate in," he emphasised.
In the letter, Unilever stated: "We would like to reiterate that Unilever absolutely condemns the war in Ukraine as a brutal, senseless act by the tussian state and we continue to join the international community in calling for stability and peace in the region."
However, the company stated it continued to operate in russia as "exiting is not straightforward", and also "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."
The company reported that in 2022 it paid 3.8 billion rubles (about 42 million dollars) in taxes to the russian state, an amount similar to that of the previous year.
Background. The NAPC has included the British corporation Unilever (producer of Domestos, Lipton, Axe, Dove, and many other brands) in the list of international sponsors of war.
In russia, Unilever employs over 3,000 employees. In 2022, the share of russian business accounted for 1.4% of Unilever's turnover and 2% of its net profit, which in 2022 increased by 24.9% compared to 2021 and amounted to €8.03 billion. The company's revenue grew to €60.1 billion (+14.5%). Unilever sales increased in all categories, with the largest increase in cosmetics sales (+20.8%).