Ukraine includes owner of Domestos, Lipton, Dove brands in list of war sponsors

Multinational firm Unilever has been included in Ukraine’s list of international sponsors of war, according to the National Agency for Corruption Prevention (NACP), Report informs referring to The New Voice of Ukraine.

The company, known as a global leader in the food and household chemicals market, owns over 400 brands including Domestos, Axe, Rexona, Dove, Calve, Rama, Brooke Bond, Lipton, Crème Bonjour, CIF, Knorr, Sunsilk, Timotei, CLEAR, Chysta Liniya, and others.

The decision to include Unilever in the list is based on the fact that the company pays significant taxes to the Russian state budget while operating in the Russian Federation, thereby supporting the aggressor’s economy and contributing to the continuation of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Unilever employs over 3,000 workers in Russia. In 2022, the Russian market accounted for 1.4% of Unilever’s turnover and 2% of its net profit, which increased by 24.9% compared to 2021, amounting to 8.03 billion euros ($8.7 billion). The company’s revenue reached 60.1 billion euros ($65.5 billion), marking 14.5% growth. Unilever’s sales increased across all categories, with the highest growth in cosmetics sales (20.8%).

Following the full-scale invasion, the company pledged to suspend all imports and exports to and from Russia, as well as cease all media and advertising expenses. However, Unilever Russia’s profit doubled from 4.8 billion rubles (56 million euros or $61 million) in 2021 to over 9.2 billion rubles (108 million euros or $118 million) last year.

Furthermore, thanks to the substantial profit increase (91%), Unilever Russia LLC managed to increase its capital to 34.5 billion rubles (353 million euros or $385 million) in 2022 from 25.3 billion rubles (259 million euros or $282 million) in 2021, representing a 37% rise. The company paid approximately $50 million in taxes to the Russian budget for the year 2022.

Unilever has stated that its stance on conducting business in Russia remains unchanged. Consequently, its facilities in Omsk, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, and Tula are continuing their operations to ensure the availability of their brands in retail outlets.