Nestle launches probe over ties to sanctioned Russian propaganda channel
Nestle has launched an internal investigation after it advertised its products on a sanctioned Georgian TV channel with ties to the Russian state, Morning Wire can reveal.
The world’s largest food and drink maker maintained a commercial relationship with Georgian media company Imedi TV after it was sanctioned by the UK government in February and identified as a partisan Kremlin mouthpiece.
The Georgian channel, founded in 2003 by tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, is listed on the official UK sanctions list and described as spreading “deliberately misleading information concerning Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.”
Imedi TV “provides support for or promotes a policy or action which destabilises Ukraine or undermines or threatens the territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence of Ukraine,” the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said.
“In particular, it regularly disseminates content that the Ukrainian Government and President Zelensky are illegitimate, Ukraine is a ‘puppet’ of the West, Ukraine is a corrupt country and that Ukraine and the West are seeking to destabilise Georgia.”
Campaign group Transparency International in March identified Nestle as among a group of western companies that had maintained ties to the channel despite it being placed on the sanctions list. It is understood Nestle continued to advertise brands including Nescafe, Nescafe Gold and Nesquik using Imedi.
Morning Wire understands the Nestle investigation is being led by the company’s global head of legal Leanne Geale with input from Mark Maurice Jones in the London legal team.
BBC cut ties with Imedi
Some global brands with ties to Imedi TV immediately severed their connections, including the BBC, which licensed Strictly Come Dancing to Imedi TV but cancelled the deal the following day.
A government spokesperson declined to comment.
Any previous breach of sanctions will strike an embarrassing blow to Nestle, which faced criticism from Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky in 2022 for maintaining its business ties to Russia. The company had failed to live up to its ‘good food, good life’ slogan, he said at the time. It halted production and sales of most of its goods in the country later that year.
A Nestle spokesperson said: “We want to reassure you that Nestlé complies with all applicable laws and international sanctions, and this includes our activities in Georgia.”