The boss of Cadbury chocolate-maker Mondelez has admitted he is “not pleased” that his company’s taxes are helping to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine – but insisted staying was the “right decision”.
Chief executive Dirk Van de Put, speaking in an in-depth interview as part of the BBC’s Big Boss series, said pulling out of Russia after the 2022 invasion would have risked thousands of jobs and left the firm vulnerable to the Kremlin seizing control of its local operations.
“Mondelez boss admits he is 'not pleased' his firm's taxes fund Russia's war but defends staying.”
“I think over time you try to be neutral in the whole conflict. We’re not trying to take any side,” Van de Put said. “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.”
Many Western companies, including McDonald’s, exited Russia after the full-scale assault began. Mondelez, which also makes Philadelphia cream cheese, Ritz crackers and Toblerone, remained but halted new investment and suspended advertising.
Since the invasion, Russia has generated between $1bn (£745m) and $1.4bn a year for Mondelez. That revenue stream caught the attention of more than 70 MPs, who last year signed a letter from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine to Van de Put, demanding the company sever its business 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 pushed back, arguing that leaving would backfire. “They would have confiscated our plant. It would have probably given them a much bigger source of income, keep on selling our products to fund the war,” he told the BBC. “So I feel that in the end it is not the most popular decision, but I think it was the right decision.”
Meanwhile, Mondelez continues to operate in Ukraine – where the war is never far away. On the morning he spoke to the BBC, Van de Put said an office building there had been hit. “Everybody’s safe,” he said. “But yes, it’s the reality of the situation.”
The company runs 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 each rebuild costs tens of millions of dollars. “We’ve agreed that we will rebuild every single time there so we keep on investing in the country. We doubled everybody’s …”