Mondelez International, the American confectionery giant, has resumed the production of Oreo cookies at its facility in Ukraine.
The company affirmed in a statement that it has resumed producing Oreo cookies at its Trostyanets plant in Ukraine.
The facility is operational once more after undergoing a full reconstruction of its biscuit line, the statement noted.
Mondelez informed Reuters that a segment of the factory briefly opened last year to produce chocolates.
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Following Russia’s invasion of the country in the first half of 2022, the snacks plant, located in northeastern Ukraine near the city of Trostyanets in the Sumy Oblast region, suffered significant damage.
Since the conflict began on February 24, Mondelez had shut down the site.
According to an unnamed source familiar with the company’s plans, Oreo cookies were exported to Ukraine during the site’s closure.
Product Portfolio of Mondelez in Ukraine
Apart from Trostyanets, Mondelez oversees a facility in the village of Stari Petrivtsi near the capital, Kyiv. Besides Oreos, the company’s branch in Ukraine manufactures Milka chocolate, Tuc and Belvita biscuits, Dirol gum, and Halls lollipops.
Mondelez stated in its announcement that products from Trostyanets would be available for sale in the Ukrainian market and exported to other countries.
The company informed Reuters that brands produced at Trostyanets would not be exported to Russia, where it maintains operations through three factories.
Its factories in Russia, located in Veliky Novgorod, Pokrov, and Sobinka, manufacture chewing gum, chocolate, and biscuits, respectively.
Since the onset of the war, the group has persisted in exporting certain products to Russia. Among these is its Milka chocolate, which has been sourced from Belgium.
Last year, in response to mounting criticism and boycotts from the Nordic market, Mondelez announced plans to scale down production in the country.
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The organisation had previously stated that by the end of 2023, it hoped to establish its Russian operations as a “stand-alone” company with a “self-sufficient supply chain.”
Mondelez was listed on Ukraine’s ‘international sponsors of war’ roster, which, until recently, was publicly accessible online. Food industry giants like Nestle, Unilever, Mars, Bonduelle, and PepsiCo were also included to highlight the presence of major corporations maintaining operations in Russia post-invasion.
Following appeals from various countries regarding the absence of a regulatory framework for managing the list and concerns about its “negative impact” on bureaucratic decision-making aimed at countering Russian aggression in Ukraine, the list was removed from the public domain.
