Consumer goods company Unilever announced it sold its Russian subsidiary on Thursday.
Unilever is among the largest producers of consumer goods, selling its products ranging from beauty to food in 190 countries. It also sold its business in Belarus in the same sale, which included four factories.
Arnest Group, a manufacturer of perfume, cosmetics, and household products, bought the Russian arm. The purchase included four factories.
“Over the past year, we have been carefully preparing the Unilever Russia business for a potential sale. This work has been very complex and has involved separating IT platforms and supply chains, as well as migrating brands to Cyrillic,” CEO Hein Schumacher said, referring to the Russian alphabet. “The completion of the sale ends Unilever Russia’s presence in the country.”
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When Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2022, Unilever was among the first to stop imports and exports in Russia but remained in production. Many other companies stopped selling their products there and closed their factories at the time.
Schumacher became CEO last July. He said he is focused on “driving high-quality sales growth and gross margin expansion.”