Philips will keep on delivering hospital equipment to Russia
CEO Roy Jakobs says the right to healthcare is universal
09 May 2023 - 17:04
byBart Meijer
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Philips CEO Roy Jakobs attends its AGM in Amsterdam, Netherlands, May 9 2023. Picture: EVA PLEVIER/REUTERS
Amsterdam — Dutch health technology company Philips will continue to deliver hospital equipment to Russia, despite its war on Ukraine, CEO Roy Jakobs said on Tuesday.
“The right to healthcare is universal, and we are part of the system delivering healthcare,” Jakobs said at the company's annual shareholders meeting in Amsterdam.
“We do this in Russia, as we do in Ukraine.”
Jakobs said Philips' activities in Russia centred on the maintenance and delivery of hospital equipment such as large medical scanners, while it has stopped the sale of its personal healthcare products there — except for maternal care products.
The Russian activities are not profitable, he added.
In 2022, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, included Philips in a group of 50 large international companies he accused of making “blood profits” by remaining active in Russia.
“International companies that remain working in Russia are directly funding Russia's war crimes,” Kuleba said in a post on Twitter in November 2022.
At the shareholders’ meeting, Dutch shareholders association VEB urged Philips to end its activities in Russia.
“It is impossible to remain neutral in this conflict,’ its director, Gerben Everts, said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Philips will keep on delivering hospital equipment to Russia
CEO Roy Jakobs says the right to healthcare is universal
Amsterdam — Dutch health technology company Philips will continue to deliver hospital equipment to Russia, despite its war on Ukraine, CEO Roy Jakobs said on Tuesday.
“The right to healthcare is universal, and we are part of the system delivering healthcare,” Jakobs said at the company's annual shareholders meeting in Amsterdam.
“We do this in Russia, as we do in Ukraine.”
Jakobs said Philips' activities in Russia centred on the maintenance and delivery of hospital equipment such as large medical scanners, while it has stopped the sale of its personal healthcare products there — except for maternal care products.
The Russian activities are not profitable, he added.
In 2022, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, included Philips in a group of 50 large international companies he accused of making “blood profits” by remaining active in Russia.
“International companies that remain working in Russia are directly funding Russia's war crimes,” Kuleba said in a post on Twitter in November 2022.
At the shareholders’ meeting, Dutch shareholders association VEB urged Philips to end its activities in Russia.
“It is impossible to remain neutral in this conflict,’ its director, Gerben Everts, said.
Reuters
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