Unilever has completed the sale of its Russian subsidiary as the consumer goods giant makes its official exit from the country.

CEO Hein Schumacher confirmed that the FMCG titan’s Russian and Belarus divisions have been sold to Russian manufacturer Arnest Group.

Unilever had faced calls by campaigners to leave the country over claims that its operations were helping to find the Russian-Ukraine war.

Earlier this year, it was one of a number of notable British food businesses campaigners were calling for the King to revoke the royal warrant over its Russian links, with other prominent FMCGs including Mondelez, Nestlé and Bacardi.

The deal is understood to be worth £300m and £334m, 50% less than the division’s value.

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Schumacher said: “Unilever has today completed the sale of its Russian subsidiary to Arnest Group, a Russian manufacturer of perfume, cosmetics, and household products. The sale includes all of Unilever’s business in Russia and its four factories in the country. Our business in Belarus is also included in the sale.”

“Over the past year, we have been carefully preparing the Unilever Russia business for a potential sale. This work has been very complex, and has involved separating IT platforms and supply chains, as well as migrating brands to Cyrillic.

“The completion of the sale ends Unilever Russia’s presence in the country,” added Schumacher.

The exit comes as other FMCG firms call time on their Russian operations, including Danone which in March was forced to transfer its accounts in the region due to “losing control of the management”, which led to a £1bn loss for the business.