Sweets and snacks giant Mondelez (Cadbury, Oreo, Milka, Toblerone) this week reported its 2022 results, with net global revenues for the full year increasing by 9.7% and European revenues by 2.4%.
Congratulations on a good year, the esteemed Board of Mondelēz International, Inc. We are sending our special regards for providing Russian people with your “essential” food despite “challenging operating conditions.”
As you sum up your strong results and expect further success in 2023, please remember the millions of Ukrainians and what has become essential for them under the constant missile terror attacks on their cities and civilian infrastructure from the country you continue to operate in. Since Russia, the author of this terror, is using corporate taxes to build more missiles to kill innocent children in Ukraine, we, the B4Ukraine coalition, would like to ask Mondelez to be more transparent and disclose how much tax you paid in Russia in 2022?
We read your financial results report carefully. In it, you claim: “In February 2022, Russia began a military invasion of Ukraine and the company closed its operations and facilities in Ukraine.” This is not true. International law recognises that Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014. Just few days ago the European Court for Human Rights announced its ruling recognizing Russia’s occupation of Eastern Ukraine since 2014. Yet Mondelez didn’t promise to reduce any operations nor to discontinue the investments in Russia until March 2022, when in particular the company’s two Ukrainian manufacturing facilities were significantly damaged.
A statement made by CEO Dirk Van de Put on March 9 said the company is “scaling back all non-essential activities” in Russia. Yet, in this report Mondelez we don’t see any details to confirm this. Declaring “incremental costs due to the war in Ukraine ” you refer solely to closing your operations and facilities in Ukraine and don’t reveal how exactly the war has impacted Mondelez Russian business.
While Mondelez has suffered “incremental costs”, the 9th year of Russia’s war on Ukraine claimed the lives of about 30,000 civilians, involved 6,000 missiles and kamikaze drones launched across Ukraine, and registered 67,000 war crimes.
And during that year thousands of Ukrainian soldiers have fallen standing up for the same rules-based international order, peace and stability which the companies like Mondelez have benefited from over the years and which Russia is now undermining.
But Mondelez continues to claim it doesn’t feel it’s supporting the war, with the company’s CEO going on record talking about biscuits as an essential breakfast ingredient in Russia.
B4Ukraine calls on the Board of Mondelēz International, Inc to put people over profit and make an immediate commitment to close down its business in the aggressor state.