Sweden’s Essity divests Russian operations

(Reuters) – Swedish hygiene products group Essity has divested its operations in Russia, the company said in a statement on Saturday.

The company said it did not expect to see a material financial impact from the winding down of its Russian business.

Essity has signed an agreement with a buyer and the transaction has been approved by the Russian authorities, it said, adding that the deal was expected to be finalised during the second quarter of 2023.

The world’s second-biggest consumer tissue maker began work on exiting the Russian market in April, after taking a writedown of about 1.7 billion crowns ($157.25 million) on its assets in the country, the statement added.

Essity had said in March it would shut down all production and sales in Russia, where it had clocked sales worth 2.8 billion crowns last year, corresponding to about 2% of its total sales.

($1 = 10.8107 Swedish crowns)