Finnish beverage manufacturer Olvi, the owner of the Estonian beverage producer A. Le Coq, earns a significant part of its profits in Belarus and although the company promised to leave the country after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, it later turned out that a law amendment adopted in Belarus forbids them to sell their business, the Estonian daily Postimees reports, citing Finnish public broadcaster Yle.
According to Yle, this month Olvi announced adjusted earnings of 42.2 million euros during the first half of the year, 16.6 million euros of which coming from its Belarus business.
Olvi has faced criticism after it issued its earnings reports in August. Olvi’s CEO, Patrik Lundell, acknowledged that the situation was difficult, because the firm found itself unable to pull out of Belarus after the country rolled out legislation at the end of 2022 which prohibited the sale of shares belonging to Western companies.
Lundell explained that Olvi initiated the sale already before the end of 2022, but the sale was not completed. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and Belarus is supporting Russia in the war.
Yle asked the CEO whether the company plans to actively sell off its operations in Belarus.
“Such measures are always reported as progress is made. There is nothing new to report [about that] at the moment,” he said.
According to Laura Solanko, a senior adviser at the Bank of Finland, some companies feel they can continue operations in Belarus because consumers are not as critical about Belarus as they are about Russia.
Olvi’s subsidiary in Belarus is Lidskoe Pivo, which employs about 840 people. Olvi also owns the Estonian beverage manufacturer A. Le Coq. The Olvi group includes beverage producers in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Denmark.
Source: BNS
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