Big Dutch companies are still encroached in Russia despite the war with Ukraine and sanctions in the country. Local newspaper De Telegraaf reported on the issue, failing to figure out how many people Dutch companies still employ in Russia and whether employees were drafted to fight in the army.
The companies still present in Russia are among the biggest Dutch firms, like Unilever, Heineken, AkzoNobel, ING, SHV, DSM and Philips. Food producer Unilever has the highest number of employees in Russia, calculated at around 3,000. The company is still producing what it dubbed as essential products like detergent and deodorant for the Russian market. Life science firm DSM is also producing only essential products, like baby food and vitamin pills, but stopped other line of productions.
Bank ING halted any new business in Russia, but stopped short of leaving the country, where it has loan outstanding for up to €3.8 billion. Investment company SHV slashed the number of employees in Russia from 900 to 300, selling all local activities of unit Nutreco and scaling down unit Mammoet. Also, chemical firm AkzoNobel simply scaled down operations. Philips was employing 600 people, but it is not clear how may are still working for the company.
Energy giant Shell is in the process of phasing out its Russian activities, but according to its Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, due to the nature of its business the company is moving slowly to avoid creating problems to fuel provision around the world. Finally, Heineken is still full-on in the country with 1,800 employees, having failed to sell its local activities.
