The British consumer goods company said the sale includes all of its business and four factories in Russia as well as its business in Belarus. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. In addition to the Russian exit, Unilever’s CEO Hein Schumacher has, in his first year at the helm, overseen plans to spin off the group’s ice cream business, lay off up to 7,500 staff and focus on 30 key brands to reverse years of underperformance.
This work has been very complex and has involved separating IT platforms and supply chains, as well as migrating brands to Cyrillic,” Schumacher said in a statement, referring to the Russian alphabet. B4Ukraine, a coalition of civil society groups seeking to compel Western companies to sever ties with Russia, welcomed Unilever’s decision to sell its assets and called for other global companies to do the same.