Unilever called out for selling ice cream and soap in Russia

Unilever has been called “a bunch of hypocrites” for continuing to sell products such as ice cream and soap in Russia.

The firm, one of the world’s largest consumer goods companies with an Irish base in Citywest, is contributing half a billion pounds annually to the Russian economy, according to analysis from the Moral Rating Agency (MRA).

The campaign group’s estimation includes Unilever’s costs and taxes expended in Russia on production, wages and rent.

MRA spokesman Mark Dixon said: “A Cornetto ice cream seems innocuous until you realise that millions of them being sold each day can quickly pay for the launch of a missile.

“Likewise, a bar of Dove soap starts to look pretty dirty when there are enough of them being produced to purchase a Russian tank.”

Unilever’s chief executive Hein Schumacher says pulling out “could result in it being nationalised”, pointing to the takeover of French yoghurt maker Danone’s Russian subsidiary earlier.

But he promised a Ukrainian war veteran to look at the issue with “a fresh pair of eyes” in a leaked letter earlier this month. Unilever recently said it would comply with conscription laws, meaning its 3,000 Russian employees could be sent to fight.

Last month, Unilever warned it could increase the prices of dozens of household favourites – even after a 20 per cent boost in profits, leading to criticism of “greedflation” for the makers of Hellmann’s, Marmite and Magnum.

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