One of the world’s biggest snack companies, Mondelez International, has been labeled an enemy of Ukraine due to its reluctance to exit Russia, Ukrainian media reported on Thursday.
The Ukrainian National Corruption Prevention Agency (NCPA) has designated the producer of Milka and Alpen Gold chocolate, Oreo and Barni biscuits, Picnic bars and Dirol chewing gum an “international sponsor of war” in an effort to “put pressure on those involved in the war.”
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Headquartered in Chicago, Mondelez is among the largest foreign companies still operating in Russia. The US company is the Russian market leader in chocolate, sweets, and biscuits and is also ranked second in the chewing gum and lollipops categories.
In March 2022, Mondelez CEO Dirk Van De Put declared the company would be “scaling back all non-essential activities in Russia while helping maintain continuity of the food supply during the challenging times ahead.”
In 2022 alone, the firm’s Russian subsidiary paid more than $61 million in taxes to the Russian budget, according to the NCPA. Mondelez has three large production facilities in the country employing some 3,200 people.
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The Ukrainian agency claimed that the “company continues to promote its products in Russia and import new products to this market” and by doing so is indirectly involved in financing the conflict.
The Oreo manufacturer has been branded an enemy of Ukraine along with Raiffeisen Bank International, Auchan, Metro, Procter & Gamble, Bonduelle, Leroy Merlin, Xiaomi and many other international companies.