The new chief executive of Unilever has pledged to look at its decision to continue operating in Russia “with a fresh pair of eyes” as the company continues to face criticism.
Hein Schumacher emphasised that the FTSE 100 consumer goods group’s decision to retain its Russian business had been “complex and multi-faceted” after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
In an email to a Ukrainian war veteran, he said he would scrutinise Unilever’s status in the country carefully. There were no “desirable” outcomes, Schumacher claimed, and withdrawal was “not straightforward”.
He was writing in response to Oleh Simoroz, an injured Ukrainian soldier, who emailed Unilever’s chief executive last month and accused the company of unsustainable “hypocrisy” by both priding itself on a respect for human rights and
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