We all understand that any business collaboration with our enemy is aiding their strength. The taxes these businesses pay while operating in Russia go into making rockets that fly to destroy us and our cities.

Starting 10.08.2023, Work.ua will cease providing any services to companies and brands that have not exited the Russian market, and we will terminate all contracts with them. We also call on other businesses and individuals to take this step — refrain from any interaction with them.

It’s simple. The money from these companies goes into Russia’s development of rockets that aim to destroy our cities and kill our people.

As long as Unilever, Leroy Merlin, Raiffeisen Bank, METRO, Beko, LC Waikiki, KRKA, Berlin-Chemie Menarini, Nestle, Auchan, OTP Bank, Mondelez, PepsiCo, Philip Morris, JTI, Syngenta, Procter & Gamble, FM Logistic, Yves Rocher, Dr.Reddy’s remain in Russia, we need to erase their presence from our lives. Don’t buy from them, don’t provide services, don’t work for them, don’t partner with them. Reject any form of interaction with these brands and their representatives.

Work.ua is taking this step on August 10, 2023, and urges all businesses and individuals currently cooperating with them to submit resignation letters, terminate contracts, and suspend any interaction.

Today, we are terminating contracts worth over five million hryvnias. We are returning this money to their owners and want absolutely no involvement in the activities of these companies in Ukraine and the world.

"Ukrainians possess two defining qualities—patience and courage. We’ve displayed patience for a long time. At first, we believed they would also leave Russia soon. Then, we thought they simply didn’t understand, that our top managers could persuade and show them Bucha, show them Mariupol, show them destroyed buildings and deaths… the consequences of these companies' collaboration with our enemy on our land. But no. They couldn’t. The choice of these companies is to stand with our enemy. So be it. Only with them. It’s time to show courage.

A year and a half is surely the limit. And if we consider the gift we can give ourselves as individuals and as a nation this Independence Day — it’s to sever all ties with these tainted brands and businesses that still operate in Russia".

Arthur Mikhno, co-founder and CEO of Work.ua, facebook.com/artur.mikhno

And what about the fact that they pay taxes and salaries to people in Ukraine?

Their argument that they are beneficial to our economy has held for this long. Perhaps it could have been tolerated in the first months when the job market crashed, everything came to a halt, and each job supported ten people around it. We believed that either the war would end quickly, or these companies would eventually leave Russia.

But now, a year and a half later, we understand their choice. Their owners and leaders have decided that it’s okay for them to fund the killing of Ukrainians with their money. It’s okay for them to collaborate with a country that threatens war and death to the world.

Therefore, Ukraine must prove that there is no place for such companies in the future. By rejecting their activities, money, and taxes, we can show that there are values higher than money. Human dignity cannot be bought with taxes and salaries. Show this to the world. And prove it to ourselves again.

Continuing collaboration with these companies will poison everyone for the rest of their lives.

There are moments when decisions need to be made. And this is one of those moments. A year and a half without exiting Russia has proven that these companies have no morality, no values. They are willing to cooperate with the world’s enemy, engage with a country that kills.

This means that every enlightened person must realize this and make the choice to sever all ties with these companies. Otherwise, this mark of cowardice and lack of principles will stay with every top manager, every leader, and even ordinary workers for a lifetime. It will undoubtedly make finding future employment much harder. And simply looking at themselves in the mirror, answering questions like, "Whose side was I on during the war?", "Who was I working for?", "Why didn’t I have the courage to make the right choice?".

«Yes, of course, we know that many Ukrainian teams and top managers of these brands have done and are doing a tremendous amount to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Ukraine. This includes efforts to bring our pain and the inadmissibility of collaboration with Russia to the attention of European offices and their boards of directors. You’ve done so much. Everything you could. Thank you for that. But it must be acknowledged that they didn’t listen. For them, money is more important than rockets falling on the heads of your children. Therefore, it’s time for the next step—to reject their tainted money. To write resignation letters".

Arthur Mikhno, co-founder and CEO of Work.ua, facebook.com/artur.mikhno

The job market in Ukraine has recovered. You will definitely find work in Ukrainian and international businesses that don’t deal in humanity trafficking and don’t operate in a country that brings death.

Each of us can contribute to hastening Victory

Remember these brands and remove them from your life. Explain to your friends, family, and colleagues why this is important. Call on your social media platforms to halt any collaboration with these companies.

This is only the initial sanctions list. It is based on the data from the "War and Sanctions" website of the National Agency for Corruption Prevention and their "International Sponsors of War" list, as well as the Leave Russia project by the Kyiv School of Economics.

This is only the first step. If you have verified information regarding companies that you’ve seen on Work.ua and their operations in Russia, please send us this data. We will create further sanctions lists and terminate collaboration with these companies. Also, check your partners and companies against these lists.

Victory is achieved not only on the battlefield. Victory is formed within each of us, through our values, virtues, and actions. Let’s show once again through our actions that human life, freedom, and dignity are the highest values. Not money. And companies willing to support global death for the sake of money should have no place among us or in the world.