Unilever has sold its Russian business for €520m (£435m).

The British firm, which owns brands including Dove, Carte D’Or and Domestos, has sold Unilever Rus, which includes all of its business in Russia and operates its four factories in the country.

Arnest Group, which is owned by Alexey Sagal, manufactures perfumes, comestics and household products and will now take control of Unilever Rus.

This takeover will include the acquisition of the group’s interests in Belarus.

The move comes after Unilever received pressure to sell the subsidiary following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, but did not unlike a number of firms who sold their subsidiaries within weeks of the conflict beginning.

In a statement, chief executive officer at Unilever, Hein Schumacher, said: "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."

---