British company Reckitt is selling its hygiene products business in Russia — Reuters
The British company Reckitt Benckiser (Reckitt) has agreed to sell its Russian hygiene products business to the local company Arnest Management. This marks another step in the company’s withdrawal from the Russian market following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Reckitt noted that the company had announced its intention to exit the Russian market back in 2022 following criticism directed at Western companies that continued to operate in Russia.
The deal involves the sale of a manufacturing facility in Moscow, intellectual property rights to local brands, and the transfer of approximately 400 employees to Arnest Management. However, the rights to global brands are not included in the deal, and Reckitt will retain its healthcare business in Russia.
The company noted that due to restrictions imposed by Russian authorities on the transfer of capital abroad, it will receive only limited proceeds from the sale of assets.
It is expected that upon completion of the deal, Reckitt will record an after-tax loss of approximately 175 million pounds. Of this amount, approximately 125 million pounds will be reflected in the first-half financial results, which the company plans to release on July 29.
At the same time, Reckitt emphasized that the sale of its Russian business will not have a material impact on adjusted operating profit or adjusted earnings per share.
This was reported by Reuters.
As a reminder, Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, informed its customers that it will cease servicing foreign currency and multicurrency cards issued by the international payment system Visa effective September 1, 2026.
On July 23, the European Union published Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1843, which expanded the sanctions imposed pursuant to Regulation (EU) No. 269/2014 in response to Russia’s actions undermining the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine.
