British News Agency

Arnest Group, a Russian manufacturer of perfumes, cosmetics and household products, will take control of Unilever Rus, which includes four factories and the group's interests in Belarus. Arnest is owned by businessman Alexey Sagal, who bought the business of Heineken, a brewer in the country, last summer.

Unilever Rus employs around 3,000 people and has local rights to brands including Knorr bouillon cubes, Dove washing and beauty products, Domestos cleaning fluids and Axe, known in the UK as Lynx.

Unilever has been under constant pressure to sell its subsidiary since the Russian-Ukraine war in February 2022 after failing to follow the British multinational's initial exit from the country.

The terms of the deal, which must be approved by the Russian government, were not disclosed. However, Unilever could reportedly receive more than €500 million from the sale.

Hein Schumacher, Unilever’s chief executive, said: “Over the past year, we have been carefully preparing the Unilever Russia business for a potential sale. This work was very complex and involved separating IT platforms and supply chains and migrating brands to Cyrillic. Completing the sale means Unilever Russia will cease to have a presence in the country.”