Ukraine president urges Nestlé to completely withdraw business activity in Russia
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly called on major Swiss companies including Nestlé to cease trading in Russia, following the country’s invasion of its Eastern European neighbour last month, writes Neill Barston.
As international media including the BBC and CNN have confirmed, a total of 10 million people have now fled their homes in Ukraine, as the conflict nears its first-month, with the UN and global community calling for peace in the region.
With an unprecedented level of economic sanctions being rapidly levelled at Moscow, the streamed speech from the Kyiv-based head of state addressed protestors against the war on Saturday, according to the Financial Times.
“Business in Russia works, even though our children die and our cities are destroyed,” the country’s president is reported to have told the event screened in Switzerland’s capital, Bern.
As Confectionery Production has previously reported, a number of major confectionery businesses including Mars and Ferrero have already signalled that they have significantly scaled back and temporarily halted production activities in the region. However, some observers have called for multinational firms to go further in entirely remove themselves from the region.
With Russia’s currency falling significantly in the wake of the invasion, a number of global corporations and brands have already reportedly at least temporarily suspended activity in the country, including Coca-Cola, Starbucks, McDonald’s, as well the likes of Mondelez and Unilever stating they will focus entirely on essential items.
Nestlé itself, reportedly responded that it ‘had not profited’ from its remaining interests in the region, contributing actively to aid for the region, and was in fact also maintaining purely vital goods including baby food and pet supplies.
CEO Mark Schneider issued a statement via Twitter on the issue earlier this month, in which he called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, expressing his dismay at the rapidly unfolding situation, as well as support for those impacted by the conflict.
According to latest international reports, the conflict in Ukraine is continuing into its fourth week, with Russian forces having issued demands for citizens of Mariupol, which has been 90% damaged by bombing, to surrender. That deadline has now passed, as shelling of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv is reportedly continuing, with the UN launching a $1.7 billion appeal for urgent humanitarian aid for the region.
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