De Heus Animal Nutrition explicitly distances itself from the donations made by its joint venture in Russia.
De Heus Animal Nutrition has held a 51% stake in a joint venture in Russia since 2009. Our activities are limited to the production of animal feed and guided by two core principles: the safety of our local employees and the ongoing functioning of essential food supply chains.
We were recently made aware of media reports in which parties affiliated with the Russian armed forces expressed gratitude to our joint venture for providing donations and gifts. We would like to emphasize that these donations were made entirely without our knowledge or consent.
We condemn the Russian invasion of and aggression against Ukraine. We stand firm in our unified stance to distance ourselves, in the strongest possible terms, from the statements and any expressions of support—whether verbal or in any actions—towards the Russian armed forces. The fact that this has occurred demonstrates that we no longer have effective control over the company in Russia.
Therefore, we have formally instructed our Russian entity to stop using our brand name, as we are no longer able to exercise our ownership rights in the region. As such, we want to emphasize that we cannot and will not be held accountable for any future statements or actions made by our joint venture in Russia or its employees.
We have been engaged in discussions with our joint venture partner for over 18 months, seeking a transfer of shares. Unfortunately, we have not yet succeeded, partly due to the lack of required approvals from the Russian authorities. For now, we remain committed to resolving this impasse and ultimately be able to leave Russia.
With more than 90 production sites and exports to over 50 countries, De Heus supports food producers across the globe. Our role is to provide high-quality animal nutrition in a responsible and sustainable manner, wherever we operate.
