Unilever has agreed to sell its its Russian subsidiary with assets worth about €600 million to Arnest Group, a Russian manufacturer of perfume, cosmetics and household products.

Arnest, owned by Russian industrialist Alexei Sagal, has also acquired the Russian assets of Dutch brewer Heineken, US can maker Ball Corp and Swedish cosmetics group Oriflame.

Unilever CEO Hein Schumacher said: “Unilever has today completed the sale of its Russian subsidiary to Arnest Group, a Russian manufacturer of perfume, cosmetics, and household products.

“The sale includes all of Unilever’s business in Russia and its four factories in the country. Our business in Belarus is also included in the sale.

“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.”