British consumer goods giant Unilever has doubled profits and increased ad spending in Russia despite its pledge to stop profiting from the market after Moscow invaded Ukraine last year, investigative media reported.
Unilever became the first major European food company to stop imports and exports from Russia, as well as media and ad spending there, in March 2022. It continued, however, to supply “essential” food and hygiene products to Russians while pledging not to take any profits from those sales.
Its Russian subsidiary Unilever Rus, which employs more than 3,000 people, almost doubled its 2022 net profit from USD 62 million to USD 119 million, according to the investigative news outlet Follow the Money. Unilever Rus also reportedly spent 10% more on advertising costs than in 2021, at USD 281 million).
Unilever has attributed its increase in profit to the changing value of the ruble and inflation, according to Follow the Money. The company did not address the increase in advertising spending.
Unilever is among 175 companies that continue “substantive” business in Russia while holding off new investments, according to a comprehensive list compiled by the Yale School of Management.