OREANDA-NEWS Unilever, an international manufacturer of consumer consumer goods and food products, left Russia because it was losing control of its business in the country, said Hein Schumacher, CEO of the company.

In March 2022, Unilever announced the suspension of exports of its products to and from Russia, as well as the cessation of investments in the country and spending on media and advertising. In October 2024, the company completed the sale of its Russian and Belarusian businesses in favor of Arnest companies.

Schumacher said in an interview with Bloomberg that the company has become worse at coping with tasks such as moving funds to and from Russia, as well as evaluating its results and influencing brand management.
"I did not see in the near future that we would be able to restore this control, and this determined the decision to withdraw (from Russia - ed.) ... I found that in the last year and a half of work it was perhaps the most difficult decision," Schumacher added. He also called the process "tedious."

Unilever was founded in 1930 as a result of the merger of the Dutch Margarine Uni and the British Lever Brothers. Currently, its portfolio includes approximately 400 brands represented in the markets of 190 countries. Including in Russia, she had about 40 brands, the most famous of them: cosmetic products Axe, Dove, "Forest balm", "Clean Line", Rexona, "Velvet pens", "Black Pearl", household chemicals Cif and Domestos, ice cream Magnat, Ekzo, Inmarko", Carte D'Or, Knorr food products.