What is the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine on French cosmetic companies? What positions have they adopted, in solidarity with the Ukrainian population or in terms of boycotting the Russian market? What actions have the industry’s representative bodies taken to support their members? Emmanuel Guichard, General Delegate of FEBEA, and Jean-Marc Giroux, President of COSMED, answered these three questions for CosmeticOBS, during interviews granted on March 11, 2022.
What are the impacts of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict on your members?
Emmanuel Guichard:
There are impacts at several levels.
For exports, first of all, Russia and Ukraine represent 2% of our exports. So, from a macro point of view, from France, it is not very serious. From a micro point of view, the FEBEA closely accompanies about ten of its members (and this must concern about forty companies in France), which are very exposed in Russia, over 15% of their exports, because they have been established there since the fall of the Berlin Wall. We’re helping them with two things: the non-payment of the last deliveries following the closure of SWIFT, and the loss of turnover for those who had a traditional flow to Russia.
More indirectly, there are concerns about glass, which is already under pressure, and about gas furnaces, as gas supply will be problematic. We are also worried about investments in plastics recycling, which is an absolute priority for us because it is a consumer demand. More than a billion euros of investment has been announced for the construction of two units, which could be three hours away from a conflict zone. Our members are strongly committed …
