L’Oréal maintains “restricted activity” in Russia, its general director Nicolas Hieronimus said on Saturday at France Inter. The global cosmetics giant has so far avoided the fate of its compatriot Danone or the Danish Carslberg, who saw the Russian state take control of assets in the country in mid-July.
The French cosmetics giant L’Oréal maintains “restricted activity” in Russia, its general director Nicolas Hieronimus told France Inter on Saturday, while a number of foreign companies have left the country since the start of the war in Ukraine. .
“We have (…) maintained a restricted part of our activity in Russia”, declared Nicolas Hieronimus in the program “On n’est pas l’éco”, questioned on the fate of the Kaluga factory, in south of Moscow. This factory, inaugurated in 2010, manufactures shampoos and hair colors, as well as hygiene products and baby products.
Auchan or TotalEnergies still active in Russia
These are “the essential everyday products that allow us to keep our factory running a little, to pay salaries and to preserve the safety of our employees in Russia,” continued Nicolas Hieronimus, “and that is what I believe is what makes us allows today, I hope, to avoid seizures or actions that could be taken against our assets and especially against our employees.”
L’Oréal is not the only French company to have remained in Russia despite the outbreak of war in Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022: Auchan and TotalEnergies are active there, according to a list established by the university from Yale. The global cosmetics giant has so far avoided the fate of its compatriot Danone or the Danish Carslberg, who saw the Russian state take control of assets in the country in mid-July.
L’Oréal announced on March 8, 2022 that it would temporarily close its stores in Russia, but maintain its factory located near Moscow. The company, with a diversity of products ranging from Mixa soap to Yves Saint-Laurent perfumes, then had 2,200 Russian employees.