During his interview with the FT (February 23), Mondelez chief executive Dirk Van de Put proclaimed that investors do not “morally care” if groups stay in Russia, reducing a diverse and engaged group of corporate stakeholders to an amoral monolith.

Investors from the US, the UK, Australasia and the EU have consistently indicated their concern that companies choosing to remain in the Russian market risk contributing to Moscow’s war of aggression, bolstering Vladimir Putin’s murderous regime, and jeopardising their bottom lines.

In May 2022, 58 institutional investors with more than $1.7tn of assets under management or administration signed an investor statement on the crisis in Ukraine organised by the Heartland Initiative, condemning Russia’s full-scale invasion and calling on companies to mitigate the human rights and material risks associated with Russia and Russian-occupied Ukraine.

Those same investors have engaged a wide array of companies — from snack makers such as Mondelez to oil majors to semiconductor manufacturers — with concerns about continued exposure to the Russian market. These engagements have included calls to exit the market, limiting activities in the country and/or conducting heightened due diligence. Investors have also filed shareholder resolutions with companies to obtain more information.

The Biden administration’s recent “Russia business advisory” reinforces investor concerns and calls for appropriate action, noting that “doing business in the Russian Federation and in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine poses serious legal, financial and reputational risks” and that companies should conduct “heightened due diligence” to address these risks.

For a biscuit maker to presume to speak on behalf of all investors is arrogant, and any suggestion that investors do not “morally care” about corporate funding of Putin’s war is half-baked.

Sam Jones
President, Heartland Initiative

Rich Stazinski
Executive Director, Heartland Initiative

Michigan City, IN, US