Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble has become the latest international company to sever business ties with Georgian television broadcaster Imedi TV after the channel was sanctioned by the United Kingdom and described as a disseminator of pro-Russian disinformation, as reported by British business publication City AM.
The multinational corporation, which owns globally recognized brands such as Gillette, Pampers, Head & Shoulders, Tide and Ariel, reportedly continued advertising on Imedi even after the broadcaster was added to the UK sanctions list in February.
City AM reports that an internal investigation led by John Brandon, Senior Director and Head of Europe Ethics and Compliance at Procter & Gamble, resulted in the company terminating its commercial relationship with the broadcaster on Monday.
The development follows a similar review launched by Nestlé, reportedly overseen by the company’s Global Head of Legal, Lienne Gill. City AM reported earlier that several other international brands, including the commercial arm of BBC Studios, ended their cooperation with Imedi shortly after the broadcaster was sanctioned by the UK government.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Procter & Gamble has faced criticism over its continued operations in Russia. In February 2023, Ukraine’s National Agency on Corruption Prevention designated the company an “international sponsor of war,” despite P&G scaling back its Russian business activities, halting new capital investments and suspending media, advertising and promotional campaigns in the country.
A spokesperson for Procter & Gamble said the company complies with laws and sanctions requirements in all markets where it operates.
“P&G complies with the law in all markets where we serve consumers and takes sanctions compliance seriously, including in our media-buying practices. We have not violated the UK sanctions regime. However, we have voluntarily adjusted our approach and stopped placing advertisements on Imedi TV in Georgia,” the spokesperson said.
Imedi TV, founded in 2003 by late Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, was included on the United Kingdom’s sanctions list and described by the British government as a broadcaster of “deliberate and misleading information” regarding Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) reported that Imedi “supports or promotes policies or actions that destabilize Ukraine, or undermine or threaten Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty or independence.”
City AM noted that British authorities specifically cited the broadcaster’s repeated dissemination of narratives claiming that the Ukrainian government and President Volodymyr Zelensky are illegitimate, that Ukraine is a Western “puppet state,” that the country is inherently corrupt, and that Ukraine and Western nations are seeking to destabilize Georgia.
