Unilever finally pulls out of Russia – two and a half years after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine --[Reported by Umva mag]

UNILEVER is finally calling quits on selling ice creams to Russia, two and a half years after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The FTSE 100 giant has come under pressure for funding the Kremlin’s war by remaining in the country. EyevineUnilever, which also makes Dove, is finally calling quits on selling ice creams to Russia[/caption] GettyThe giant has come under pressure for funding the Kremlin’s war by remaining in the country[/caption] Unilever had been branded an “international sponsor of war” by the Ukrainian government — puncturing the woke firm’s self-styled reputation for social purpose and values. The backlash included protests outside its London HQ. The invasion of Ukraine triggered an exodus of big Western firms, including BP, McDonald’s and Burberry. However, Unilever stayed put. The company, which also makes Dove, has now made a reported £430million selling its Russian assets to billionaire Alexey Sagal, who bought Heineken’s Russian subsidiary for €1. Unilever did not say what it would be doing with the sale proceeds or whether it would donate them to Ukraine. Rival KitKat-maker Nestle justified staying in Russia with slimmed-down operations of “essential products” such as baby milk. But Unilever was still making products such as Magnums, Cornettos and Ben & Jerry ice cream from four factories in the country. By remaining in Russia, Unilever contributed millions of pounds in taxes to the Russian government. The Moral Rating agency had estimated Unilever’s business propped up the Russian economy to the tune of $650million (£498million) a year, which it said was “enough to pay for an Iranian drone every 17 minutes”. Nataliya Popovych, a co-founder of the B4Ukraine coalition, said: “We are pleased to see Unilever make the right move, even though such a decision comes two years too late.” Hein Schumacher, Unilever’s boss, previously said remaining in Russia was the “least bad” option, which avoided handing over its workforce, factory and assets. Yesterday Mr Schumacher said the sale to Mr Sagal’s Arnest Group “ends Unilever presence in the country”. He said: “Over the past year, we have been carefully preparing the Unilever Russia business for a potential sale. “This work has been very complex, and has involved separating IT platforms and supply chains.” SELLING UP TO BEAT BUDGET FEARS that the Chancellor will hike capital gains tax in the Budget have prompted many business owners to fast-track selling their firms over the past year, figures show. A poll of 500 owners by wealth advisers Evelyn Partners found 23 per cent of those to accelerate selling up had done so because they feared a hit from CGT relief. A fifth were driven by concerns over inheritance tax relief, making it more costly to pass family firms to the next generation. Evelyn tax partner Laura Hayward said: “The PM’s statement that the upcoming Budget would be ‘painful’ has put owner-managed businesses on edge.” Charles Hall, of broker Peel Hunt, said rumoured changes to business relief would “fatally undermine” London’s junior Aim stock market, destroying up to £21billion of shareholder value and risking jobs. SHARES in GSK briefly rose by 7 per cent yesterday as it agreed to pay £1.7billion to settle a legal dispute with 80,000 Zantac users. The heartburn drug was pulled in 2019 amid fears of carcinogens. GSK did not admit liability. Shares closed up 3 per cent. IKEA IDEA ON PRICE IKEA’S decision to cut prices has led to lower revenues at the Swedish furniture giant. It posted a 6.8 per cent drop in UK sales to £2.3billion after investing £117million in lowering prices by around 20 per cent on 3,481 products. More than half of its sales this year have been online, compared with 38 per cent two years ago. Ikea UK boss Peter Jelkeby said: “Continuing to lower prices remains our long-term priority.” TSB FINED£10M FOR BAD HELP TSB has been fined £10.9million for its unfair treatment of customers. Paul Tonge - The SunTSB has been fined £10.9million for its unfair treatment of customers, one staffer suggested a borrower removed the £20 a month they had allocated for children’s clothes and made sandwiches instead of paying for school meals.[/caption] The Financial Conduct Authority said the bank had “woeful systems and controls” and created unrealistic repayment plans. A TSB staffer had suggested a borrower removed the £20 a month they had allocated for children’s clothes and made sandwiches instead of paying for school meals. In another case the bank applied arrears to a dead customer’s mortgage payments. It also applied arrears to a customer after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and did not flag another as vulnerable despite them making repeated references to suicide in calls. The failings took place between June 2014 and March 2020. TSB agreed to re

Oct 10, 2024 - 22:55

Unilever finally pulls out of Russia – two and a half years after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine --[Reported by Umva mag]

UNILEVER is finally calling quits on selling ice creams to Russia, two and a half years after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The FTSE 100 giant has come under pressure for funding the Kremlin’s war by remaining in the country.

a woman stands in front of a dove billboard

Unilever, which also makes Dove, is finally calling quits on selling ice creams to Russia[/caption]

a man in a suit and tie sits in front of a microphone

The giant has come under pressure for funding the Kremlin’s war by remaining in the country[/caption]

Unilever had been branded an “international sponsor of war” by the Ukrainian government — puncturing the woke firm’s self-styled reputation for social purpose and values.

The backlash included protests outside its London HQ.

The invasion of Ukraine triggered an exodus of big Western firms, including BP, McDonald’s and Burberry.

However, Unilever stayed put. The company, which also makes Dove, has now made a reported £430million selling its Russian assets to billionaire Alexey Sagal, who bought Heineken’s Russian subsidiary for €1.

Unilever did not say what it would be doing with the sale proceeds or whether it would donate them to Ukraine.

Rival KitKat-maker Nestle justified staying in Russia with slimmed-down operations of “essential products” such as baby milk.

But Unilever was still making products such as Magnums, Cornettos and Ben & Jerry ice cream from four factories in the country.

By remaining in Russia, Unilever contributed millions of pounds in taxes to the Russian government.

The Moral Rating agency had estimated Unilever’s business propped up the Russian economy to the tune of $650million (£498million) a year, which it said was “enough to pay for an Iranian drone every 17 minutes”.

Nataliya Popovych, a co-founder of the B4Ukraine coalition, said: “We are pleased to see Unilever make the right move, even though such a decision comes two years too late.”

Hein Schumacher, Unilever’s boss, previously said remaining in Russia was the “least bad” option, which avoided handing over its workforce, factory and assets.

Yesterday Mr Schumacher said the sale to Mr Sagal’s Arnest Group “ends Unilever presence in the country”.

He said: “Over the past year, we have been carefully preparing the Unilever Russia business for a potential sale.

“This work has been very complex, and has involved separating IT platforms and supply chains.”

SELLING UP TO BEAT BUDGET

FEARS that the Chancellor will hike capital gains tax in the Budget have prompted many business owners to fast-track selling their firms over the past year, figures show.

A poll of 500 owners by wealth advisers Evelyn Partners found 23 per cent of those to accelerate selling up had done so because they feared a hit from CGT relief.

A fifth were driven by concerns over inheritance tax relief, making it more costly to pass family firms to the next generation.

Evelyn tax partner Laura Hayward said: “The PM’s statement that the upcoming Budget would be ‘painful’ has put owner-managed businesses on edge.”

Charles Hall, of broker Peel Hunt, said rumoured changes to business relief would “fatally undermine” London’s junior Aim stock market, destroying up to £21billion of shareholder value and risking jobs.

SHARES in GSK briefly rose by 7 per cent yesterday as it agreed to pay £1.7billion to settle a legal dispute with 80,000 Zantac users.

The heartburn drug was pulled in 2019 amid fears of carcinogens. GSK did not admit liability. Shares closed up 3 per cent.

IKEA IDEA ON PRICE

IKEA’S decision to cut prices has led to lower revenues at the Swedish furniture giant.

It posted a 6.8 per cent drop in UK sales to £2.3billion after investing £117million in lowering prices by around 20 per cent on 3,481 products.

More than half of its sales this year have been online, compared with 38 per cent two years ago. Ikea UK boss Peter Jelkeby said: “Continuing to lower prices remains our long-term priority.”

TSB FINED£10M FOR BAD HELP

TSB has been fined £10.9million for its unfair treatment of customers.

a sandwich is cut in half in a purple container

TSB has been fined £10.9million for its unfair treatment of customers, one staffer suggested a borrower removed the £20 a month they had allocated for children’s clothes and made sandwiches instead of paying for school meals.[/caption]

The Financial Conduct Authority said the bank had “woeful systems and controls” and created unrealistic repayment plans.

A TSB staffer had suggested a borrower removed the £20 a month they had allocated for children’s clothes and made sandwiches instead of paying for school meals.

In another case the bank applied arrears to a dead customer’s mortgage payments.

It also applied arrears to a customer after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis and did not flag another as vulnerable despite them making repeated references to suicide in calls.

The failings took place between June 2014 and March 2020.

TSB agreed to resolve the issues identified, which meant the fine was cut by 30 per cent from £15.6million.

DAWN OF THE A.I. BOSS

WORKERS will soon be right when complaining that their boss is a robot — with video call firm Zoom creating artificial intelligence avatars for conference calls.

a man in a futuristic suit is making a funny face

1992 sci-fi film The Lawnmower Man could be inspiration for managers of the future[/caption]

a screenshot of a zoom workplace with a man on the screen — One of Zoom’s realistic AI avatars

Its latest AI software means that bosses can use a digital version of themselves, or a generic avatar, to deliver brief video messages to workers on calls.

Zoom’s boss Eric Yuan has previously talked about creating a “digital twin” of himself as a way to solve busy people’s problem of how to be in two places at the same time.

The rise of remote working has meant bosses are increasingly delivering news of lay-offs via video calls — meaning workers could find themselves being let go by a robot in the near future.

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