Fonterra has announced it will exit its businesses in Russia. This follows the Co-op’s decision to suspend shipments of product to Russia at the end of February.
CEO Miles Hurrell says “our first step following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was to establish the safety of the team in Russia, and our priority through this process continues to be doing the right thing by our people.
“We then suspended shipment of product to Russia while we assessed the impact of economic sanctions and discussed our long-term plans with our customers and joint venture partner.
Fonterra exports a small amount of product to Russia, primarily butter, totalling about 1% of its annual exports.
“Given the current strong demand for New Zealand dairy, we are confident in our ability to re-allocate this product to other markets,” says Mr Hurrell.
New Zealand has been exporting butter to Russia for more than 40 years. Fonterra entered the joint venture Unifood in December 2018.
