Called out by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Nestle defends its Russia business

Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, is facing growing public pressure to halt all commercial activities in Russia due to the country’s attack on Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Swiss company on Saturday to stay in Russia in a speech to thousands of protesters in Bern, the capital of Switzerland, according to media outlets such as Bloomberg News and CNN.

“Good food. Good life. That’s Nestlé’s slogan. Your company refuses to leave Russia. Even now, when there are threats from Russia to other European countries. Not just us. and all when there is nuclear blackmail from Russia, “he said.

Zelenskyy’s remarks echoed last week’s comments by Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, who in a tweet criticized Nestlé CEO Mark Schneider for his company’s position on doing business in Russia. The Swiss company stopped shipping non-essential goods to Russia earlier this month, but continues to sell baby food, cereals and pet food in the country.

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t show understanding,” Shmyhal said of Nestlé’s CEO. “Paying taxes on a terrorist country’s budget means killing defenseless children and mothers. We hope Nestlé changes its mind soon.”

Nestlé defends itself

Nestlé said it is not benefiting from its remaining activities in Russia. “The fact that we, like other food companies, supply the population with important food does not mean that we continue as before,” a company spokesman said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch.

“We are doing everything we can in Ukraine and neighboring countries to help alleviate this humanitarian catastrophe,” he said. “We are still one of the few food companies active in Ukraine and sometimes we even manage to distribute food in Kharkiv.”

Nestlé is one of the many number of companies that have suspended new investment and advertising in Russia but continue to sell products there, according to a list of Yale University management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. They say that about three dozen companies are resisting the demands of leaving or reducing their activities in Russia.

Hundreds of large American and other Western companies they have withdrawn from Russia since the country attacked Ukraine on February 24. US companies to go out include Apple, Boeing, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Disney, Exxon, Ford, JPMorgan, MasterCard, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Nike, Visa and many more.

“There’s no middle ground here,” Sonnenfeld told CBS News earlier this month. Government sanctions “rarely succeed on their own; they need fairly universal support from the business community to really paralyze an economy as intended.”

Businesses could be under pressure from Congress to leave Russia. Deputy Carolyn B. Maloney on Monday introduced a bill banning the U.S. from buying products and services from companies operating in Russia.

“For four weeks, the world has watched in horror as Russian forces launch barbaric attacks on the peaceful, independent country of Ukraine,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. “With devastating images of thousands of innocent civilians killed and wounded in Ukraine, including American journalists, it is essential that the United States increase pressure to weaken Russia’s ability to fund this unprovoked war,” he said. “While many companies have made the right decision to end or significantly reduce their operations in Russia, others have not.”