Cadbury owner to scale back operations in Russia over Ukraine invasion

Mondelēz International acquired Cadbury in 2010

The US owners of Birmingham chocolate giant Cadbury is to scale back operations in Russia.

Mondelez International said it will reduce non-essential activities, halt investment and advertising spending.

The firm said it wanted to maintain food supply continuity there and support colleagues "in the challenging times ahead".

It has already closed operations in Ukraine and "condemned this unjust aggression" from Russia.

Consumer giants including McDonald's, Coca-Cola and Starbucks have joined the list of firms halting business in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.

In a statement to all staff, chief executive Dirk Van de Put said: "As the war in Ukraine continues to escalate, our hearts go out to everyone whose lives have been upended by this senseless and tragic violence, people in and around Ukraine and everyone around the world with family, friends and loved ones in Ukraine.

"We condemn this unjust aggression and stand firmly with those calling for peace and an end to the war."

'Highly dynamic'

He added: "As a food company, we are scaling back all non-essential activities in Russia while helping maintain continuity of the food supply during the challenging times ahead.

"We will also continue to support our colleagues in the market who are facing great uncertainty.

"We will focus our operation on basic offerings, discontinue all new capital investments and suspend our advertising media spending.

"We recognize this is a highly dynamic and very concerning situation that we will continue to assess and adjust as needed."

He said the food giant would continue to monitor the situation and thanked those who were "working together to address these immense challenges".

The company would also be "stepping up our humanitarian efforts" with a multi-million-dollar commitment in aid to various organisations including to Save The Children and through its employee double-match program with International Federation of the Red Cross.