The boss of Cadbury chocolate-maker Mondelez has admitted he is “not pleased” that taxes the firm pays in Russia are helping to fund the war in Ukraine, but insisted it was the “right decision” to remain in the country after the 2022 invasion.
Chief executive Dirk Van de Put, in an interview with the BBC, said pulling out would have risked thousands of jobs and left the company vulnerable to the Kremlin confiscating its local operations. “They would have confiscated our plant,” he said. “It would have probably given them a much bigger source of income, keep on selling our products to fund the war.”
“Mondelez CEO Dirk Van de Put says staying in Russia was right call despite taxes funding Ukraine war.”
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, Mondelez has generated between $1bn (£745m) and $1.4bn a year from its Russian business. While many Western companies such as McDonald’s exited, Mondelez remained but discontinued new investment and suspended advertising.
Van de Put’s comments provoked criticism from more than 70 MPs who signed a letter from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine, urging Mondelez to sever ties. Alex Sobel, the group’s chair, wrote: “Continuing to operate in a nation responsible for the deaths of countless Ukrainian civilians and the abduction of thousands of children cannot be justified under any definition of ‘business as usual’.”
Van de Put, however, argued that leaving would have backfired. “I think over time you try to be neutral in the whole conflict,” he said. “We’re not trying to take any side. I think we did the right thing for our people in Russia. Can we be criticised for that? Yeah, of course. We pay taxes in Russia that helps the war. I’m not pleased about that.”
Despite its Russian operations, Mondelez continues to run two manufacturing plants in Ukraine – one in Trostyanets near the Russian border and one in Vyshhorod close to Kyiv. “One plant got hit twice, we’ve rebuilt it twice,” Van de Put said, adding that rebuilding costs tens of millions each time. “We’ve agreed that we will rebuild every single time there so we keep on investing in the country. We doubled everybody’s …”
On the morning he spoke to the BBC, Van de Put said an office building in Ukraine had been hit. “Everybody’s safe,” he said. “But yes, it’s the reality of the situation.”
Mondelez, which also produces Philadelphia cream cheese, Ritz crackers and Toblerone, has faced mounting pressure over its presence in Russia – a dilemma shared by other Western firms that have chosen to stay while trying to limit their exposure in a country whose war they say they do not support.