The National Agency on Corruption Prevention has added the British corporation Unilever to the list of international war sponsors

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention has added the British corporation Unilever to the list of international sponsors of war, which, despite promises to withdraw from the Russian market, has remained there. 

The NACP press service reported this.

This company includes such brands as Domestos, Axe, Rexona, Dove, Calve, Rama, Brooke Bond, Lipton, Crème Bonjour, CIF, Knorr, Sunsilk, Timotei, CLEAR, and Chysta Liniia.

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the company promised to suspend all imports and exports of its products to and from Russia, as well as to stop all media and advertising spending. 

However, during the year of the full-scale war, Unilever Russia's profits doubled from 4.8 billion rubles (€56 million) in 2021 to more than 9.2 billion rubles (€108 million) last year.

Unilever employs more than 3,000 people in Russia. In 2022, the 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 increased to €60.1 billion (+14.5%). Unilever's sales grew in all categories, with the largest increase in cosmetics sales (+20.8%).

In addition, thanks to the significant profit (+91%), Unilever Russia managed to increase its capital to 34.5 billion rubles in 2022 from 25.3 billion rubles in 2021, or +37%.

Unilever Rus LLC paid about $50 million in taxes to the Russian budget in 2022.

"Unilever has stated that the company's position on doing business in Russia has not changed, but the facilities in Omsk, Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, and Tula continue to function, and the offices continue to operate, ensuring the presence of brands at retail outlets," the NACP noted.