L'Occitane closes its stores and e-commerce in Russia citing "enormous human suffering"
L'Occitane is the latest beauty brand to suspend sales, investment and expansion plans in Russia after "significantly" scaling back its business operations over the last few weeks following the large-scale military invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
The brand emphasised that its priority was to protect and take care of its employees worldwide, following in the footsteps of the likes of L'Oréal Paris, Estée Lauder and Unilever and more, who stopped trading in the country in March.
It has said that it would continue to pay the salaries of its Russian employees as well as those of its distribution partner’s employees in Ukraine.
L'Occitane said: "We strongly condemn the unjustified invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Given the enormous human suffering being caused by escalating military action in Ukraine and to protect our employees worldwide from potential public aggression, we have decided to close our own stores and e-commerce websites in Russia. This decision has been discussed at length and approved by the Company Board of Directors."
"Concerning Ukraine, we are firmly committed to our distribution partner and its employees. We maintain regular communication with them and are providing support so that those affected can get to safety."
