Unilever has officially completed the sale of its Russian subsidiary to Arnest Group, a local manufacturer of cosmetics and household products. The sale includes all of Unilever’s operations in Russia, which consists of four factories located in St. Petersburg, Tula, Omsk, and Yekaterinburg, as well as its business in Belarus.
The financial terms of the transaction were not fully disclosed, but estimates place the deal between €394 million and €520 million
The company faced significant backlash for continuing its operations in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Unilever had initially halted imports and exports to and from Russia but allowed its local business to keep running.
This decision drew criticism from campaigners and Ukraine’s government, which labeled Unilever an “international sponsor of war.”
In response to mounting pressure, Unilever’s CEO, Hein Schumacher, pledged to re-examine the company’s presence in Russia and eventually initiated the sale process.
The year-long sale preparation was complex, involving the separation of IT platforms, supply chains, and the migration of brands to the Cyrillic alphabet.
With the completion of this sale, Unilever has fully exited the Russian market after operating in the country since 1991.
