Swedish royals reject chocolate brand active in Russia because of war

Sweden’s Royal House has removed the chocolate manufacturer Marabou from its list of suppliers because its owner, Mondelez, has been blacklisted by the Ukrainian National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) for its activities in Russia.

As reported by Aftonbladet, the press service of the Swedish Royal Court confirmed to the news agency TT that the decision to end Marabou’s warrant as Purveyor to the Royal Court of Sweden was made at the end of last year. Last year, several stores removed Marabou products from their shelves, and several organisations have decided to boycott the company.

The Association of Purveyors to the Royal Court said there are currently 128 suppliers for the royal family. The list still contains brands owned by companies that continue to operate in Russia to some extent. The association cannot comment on this, as it is the royal family that decides who should be on the list.

Among the brands associated with continuing operations in Russia are the bread maker Wasabröd, owned by Italian company Barilla, as well as the sauce producers Slotts and Winborgs, owned by the UK’s Unilever.

In November, the NACP included Knauf, the largest German investor in Russia’s construction industry, on its list of international sponsors of the war.

Ukraine had previously declared the Bolero group of companies a sponsor of the war. Bolero’s beneficial owner is a business partner of Georgian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili's cousin.