Why Unilever employees in Russia might be sent to war in Ukraine

Few want to have links with Russia after it invaded Ukraine last year. Countries have distanced themselves from the Kremlin and companies have pulled out of the country. However, some continue to do business. Unilever has stayed put despite the conflict and now is ready to send its employees to war.

The consumer packaged goods company, which makes products like Cornetto and Magnum ice creams, Marmite and Dove soap, has now said that it will comply with Russia’s conscription law, which calls upon men aged 18 to 27 to perform compulsory military duty. This means those working with Unilever in Russia could be sent to fight the war in Ukraine.

Complying with Russia’s conscription law

The Anglo-Dutch firm, which is facing heat for its decision to continue operating in Russia, employs close to 3,000 workers in the country across four manufacturing sites which produce personal care and hygiene products and ice creams.

While the company has policies that cover the safety of its workers, in a letter to campaign group B4Ukraine, which urges companies to cease operations in Russia, Unilever said that it would comply with the conscription law. The firm said it was “aware of the law requiring any company operating in Russia to permit the conscription of employees should they be called”, adding that it had a “responsibility” for its workers and followed “global principles including the safety and well-being of our employees”.

“We always comply with all the laws of the countries we operate in,” Unilever’s chief business operations and supply chain officer, Reginaldo Ecclissato, wrote in a letter to B4Ukraine.

Unilever said that it continued its operations in Russia as “exiting is not straightforward”. It decided not to pull out “both to avoid the risk of our business ending up in the hands of the Russian state, either directly or indirectly and to help protect our people”.

In the letter in response to questions raised by B4Ukraine, Ecclissato said none of the options it had was “desirable”. By selling the business, the Russian state could “gain further benefit”. If it shut operations, its brands would be “appropriated – and then operated – by the Russian state”, according to a report by Telegraph, UK.

However, the company said, that it condemned the war in Ukraine “as a brutal, senseless act by the Russian state and we continue to join the international community in calling for stability and peace in the region”.

Uniliver’s spokesperson did not reveal whether its Russian employees had been called upon for military duty. However, if the workers were to be conscripted by the Russian army, their employment contracts would be suspended and they would not be paid by the firm.

Hitting out at Unilever, Valeriia Voshchevska, of the Ukraine Solidarity Project (USP) campaign group, wrote on Twitter, “If this is protecting your workers, I’d hate to see what putting them in harm’s way looks like. And what about innocent Ukrainian civilians – does Unilever not think they deserve protecting too?”

If this is protecting your workers, I’d hate to see what putting them in harm’s way looks like. And what about innocent Ukrainian civilians – does Unilever not think they deserve protecting too? https://t.co/AjdL4ltHHu

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