Pepsi Products No Longer Available in Finnish Parliament

Restaurants within the Parliament of Finland have ceased serving Pepsi products due to the parent company's continued business operations in Russia.

This is reported by the Finnish television company Yle.

This decision comes after a complaint from Member of Parliament Tuomas Kettunen, a member of the Centre Party, who requested the Parliament to set an example by discontinuing the sale of "bloody Pepsi."

Last September, the company halted the production of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, and 7UP in Russia but continues to sell its products in a country where its profits grew fourfold last year.

Last week, The Gaze reported that the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption in Ukraine added the leading food corporation PepsiCo to the list of international sponsors of the war. Despite claims of scaling back its business, discontinuing advertising activities, and production, PepsiCo continues to operate in Russia, thereby supporting the aggressor country's economy.

PepsiCo has been operating in Russia since 1974, with 19 factories, around 20,000 employees, and 40,000 agricultural workers. In terms of net profit, PepsiCo is the fourth-largest company in the beverage and food industry in Russia.

Furthermore, it has been revealed that Ukraine's anti-corruption agency accuses the Finnish producer of non-alcoholic beverages, Hartwall, of supporting Russia's aggressive war. The agency also noted that PepsiCo Lays chips were found in the snack packages of Russian soldiers, and Hartwall is responsible for their import into Finland.

According to Ukraine, companies listed as "war sponsors" contribute to the Russian president Vladimir Putin's administration through tax revenues. The Ukraine's anti-corruption agency calculated that last year, PepsiCo paid over 100 million euros in taxes to the Russian state. Alongside other taxes, foreign companies operating in Russia are also required to pay a new "war tax."

The "War Sponsors" list includes the Austrian banking group Raiffeisen, the British consumer goods company Unilever, the Hungarian OTP Bank, the French retail giant Auchan, and several other well-known companies that continue to operate in Russia.