THE WHAT? Unilever’s new CEO, Hein Schumacher has pledged to review its decision to continue operations in Russia after Ukraine named the FMCG manufacturer as a sponsor of war.

THE DETAILS A spokesperson for the company said, “We will continue to keep things under review but it’s a very complex situation.” The official company line is that, should the manufacturer of Dove exit the market, the business would end up in the ‘hands of the Russian state’.

THE WHY? Presumably the negative press that Unilever has attracted for continuing to produce and sell products in Russia is weighing heavy on the CEO. However, Schumacher has branded the decision to remain the ‘best option’. Is that assessment unrelated to the fact that it doubled profits and upped ad spend in the country last year?