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Purple bunnies for Easter? Not according to Ukrainian activists
Photo: Karina Hessland / IMAGO
The Easter business is in full swing, hundreds of thousands of bunnies, chicks and eggs made of chocolate are already on the shelves of German supermarkets. Now, shortly before the holidays, Ukrainian activists are demanding that the supermarket chains Rewe and Edeka ban Milka chocolate from their shelves.
This should apply until Milka's US parent company Mondelez withdraws from the Russian market, according to a letter from the Vitsche organization to the managing directors of Edeka and Rewe, which is available to the editorial network Germany (RND). Despite commitments to reduce operations in Russia, Mondelez continues to operate three factories in the country.
Activists criticize Mondelez boss
In the letter, the activists criticize statements by Mondelez boss Dirk Van de Put that he does not believe that investors “morally care” whether companies continue to do business in Russia. There was no pressure from investors on Mondelez to withdraw from there, Van de Put told the Financial Times.
Vitsche writes: "Companies like Mondelez are indirectly financing Russia's illegal war against Ukraine."
Van de Put told the Financial Times in February that the companies that had left Russia had left their assets to "friends" of Putin. And further: "You can bet that the money they make goes to the war far more than the taxes we would pay."
Vitsche had already called for a boycott of Milka chocolate last November. At that time, the German branch in Bremen referred to a communication from Mondelez International from June 2023 regarding business in Russia. In it, the company said it condemned the “brutal aggression” against Ukraine. In Russia, Mondelez continues to offer affordable, long-lasting products "that are a staple food for the average citizen."
In the current letter from Vitsche there is also praise for Rewe and Edeka because both companies removed all products made in Russia from the shelves of their supermarkets shortly after the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022. According to the report, the letter said: "We count on your support to show Mondelez that morality has a place in business, especially as we consider that Russia continues to commit war crimes in Ukraine."
The Ukrainian government's National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) added Milka's parent company Mondelez to its list of "international sponsors of war" last May. In addition to Milka, the food company Mondelez (formerly Kraft Foods), which has its international headquarters in Chicago, also includes brands such as Oreo, Toblerone and Ritz.
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