Helsinki's Linnanmäki amusement park has announced it will stop selling ice cream from Ingman, a company owned by the Unilever conglomerate which has ties to Russia.
According to the park's managing director, Pia Adlivankin, it was a values-based decision.
"On the basis of our values, we have decided not to continue cooperating with actors that still operate in Russia, despite the sanctions," Adlivankin told Yle.
Originally a Finnish-owned firm, Ingman is now held by British multinational consumer goods company Unilever. Ingman's owner is not subject to sanctions on Russia, but the firm has faced a good deal of criticism due to its continued operations in the country.
As a result, Unilever pays tens of millions of euros in taxes to Russia. A portion of those taxes are used by the country to finance its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Kyiv has said that the presence of Western companies in Russia undermines the sanctions — resulting in Ukraine blacklisting the multinational company.
Unilever declined an interview with Yle.
Ingman has had an exclusive deal with Linnanmäki, and since it provided all of the ice cream products the brand received a lot of visibility at the park.
Going forward, according to the park's director Adlivankin, ice cream treats sold at the park will be sourced from Finnish firms with no links to Russia.
Linnanmäki has also reviewed the range of other products available at the park, to ensure that items sold at its restaurants and kiosks do not have Russian links, according to Adlivankin.
While the park has been closed during the winter, the company has been looking for alternatives to products that were found to have ties to Finland's eastern neighbour.
However — at least until the end of this year — Linnanmäki's main beverage partner is Hartwall, which is also Finland's domestic distributor of products from Pepsico, which is also on Ukraine's blacklist.
A number of other amusement and theme parks in Finland told Yle that they plan to continue selling Ingman ice cream.
The parks include Särkänniemi, Powerpark, Tykkimäki, Puuhamaa, Visulahti and Moomin World. Representatives from the parks said that they were aware of the problems associated with cooperating with Unilever, but added that they do not plan to stop working with the company.
The main reason for that, according to the parks, is a lack of alternative companies from which to choose. That's because large-scale ice cream companies are owned by a few multinational giants that are also still doing business in Russia.
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