Mondelez, which produces the brands 7Days, Alpen Gold, Barni, BelVita, Halls, LU, Milka, Oreo, Toblerone, Tuc, etc. and which previously faced a corporate boycott due to continued work in the Russian Federation, declared the Russian division an “autonomous organization.” Foreign colleagues considered this a “difference without divergence” (a formal attempt at distancing, which in reality will not happen).
The “new” “autonomous organization” will be headed by Alexey Blinov, chief financial officer of the Eastern Europe region (Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Transcaucasia and Central Asia) of Mondelēz International, Reuters reports citing internal documents.
Mondelez Europe CEO Vince Gruber explained the new autonomy: “From the end of 2023, we have made the operation of our local business more independent. <...> Products sold in Russia are now produced and distributed locally, without importing finished products from Europe to Russia or exporting them from Russia to Europe.”
The international corporation specifically highlighted that Blinov will report to another manager, whose name is not specified.
Alexey has been working at Mon’delez Rus LLC (formerly Kraft Foods, now Mondelēz International) since 2005. In 2013 he became CFO of the company in Russia and in 2015-2016. He also held the position of CFO of the Chocolate category in the EEMEA (Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa) region. Prior to this, Blinov held financial leadership positions at Nestlé and Bolshevik OJSC.
Mondelez International is present in 160 countries. The company has three factories directly in the Russian Federation: Bolshevik and its own production in Pokrov and Veliky Novgorod. At the end of 2022, Mondelez’s profits in Russia amounted to $339 million.
Despite the 2022 statements about the suspension of advertising and investments in the Russian Federation, the company has not reduced its activity in the region. Bloomberg even writes that market research did not stop, as promised.
Foreign colleagues believe that the statements about the autonomy of the Russian division “do not make much sense”, since they look like a formal “delimitation without divergences”. It appears to be an attempt to avoid the condemnation the company faced (a full-blown corporate boycott after refusing to leave the Russian Federation and being placed on the list of “international war sponsors”).
A second wave of indignation may arise after the publication of reports (in 2023, Mondelez imported even 2% more to the Russian Federation than the previous year) and the publication by Bloomberg of internal documents (an investigation whose tone “not corresponds to the company’s statements”).
The world community also condemns Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever for not ceasing their activities in the Russian Federation.
Author:
Ekaterina Alipova
Source: RB
I am a professional journalist and content creator with extensive experience writing for news websites. I currently work as an author at Gadget Onus, where I specialize in covering hot news topics. My written pieces have been published on some of the biggest media outlets around the world, including The Guardian and BBC News.
