L’Oréal maintains “limited activity” in Russia

French cosmetics giant L’Oréal is maintaining “limited activity” in Russia, its managing director Nicolas Hieronimus told France Inter on Saturday, while many foreign companies have left the country since the start of the war in Ukraine.

“We have (…) maintained a limited part of our business in Russia,” said Nicolas Hieronimus on the programme “We can’t stop the economy,” when asked about the fate of the Kaluga plant, south of Moscow. The plant, which opened in 2010, manufactures shampoos and hair colourings, as well as hygiene and baby products.

These are “essential everyday products that allow us to keep our factory running, to pay salaries and to protect the safety of our employees in Russia,” continued Nicolas Hieronimus, “and it is this, I believe, that allows us today, I hope, to avoid seizures or actions that could be taken against our assets and above all against our employees.”

L’Oréal is not the only French company to have continued activity in Russia despite the outbreak of war in Ukraine by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022: Auchan and TotalEnergies are also still active there, according to a list drawn up by Yale University.

For the time being, the global cosmetics giant has avoided the fate of its compatriot Danone and Denmark’s Carslberg, which 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 near Moscow.

The company, which produces a wide range of products from Mixa soap to Yves Saint Laurent perfumes, had 2,200 Russian employees at the time.