Original statement from the 19th November can be found below.

HEINEKEN N.V. has agreed to transfer its brewery in Bukavu in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for €1 to Synergy Ventures Holdings Ltd, a Mauritian company owned by a group of entrepreneurs and operators with experience in the Region. Completion of the transfer is expected by the end of the year.

The transfer follows the loss of operational control of the brewery in June 2025 and is driven by a humanitarian objective to safeguard jobs and livelihoods, maintain vital community services and prevent misuse of the facility in a volatile security environment. It represents a careful balance between upholding HEINEKEN’s values and protecting economic stability whilst ensuring a responsible withdrawal from an environment where continued operation by HEINEKEN is no longer feasible.

Since suspending operations at the site in February 2025, HEINEKEN has continued to pay all Bukavu brewery employees in full. Upon completion of the transfer, Synergy Ventures Holdings Ltd will assume full responsibility for operating the brewery, ensuring the safety and well-being of employees and fulfilling all tax obligations to the government of the DRC. HEINEKEN retains a buyback option, exercisable 3 years after the sale, if conditions allow for viable operations.

Our previous update on this situation can be found here.

We have anticipated this moment. We continue to be a proud partner of F1 and have just signed a global partnership with Premier Padel, the fastest growing sport worldwide, with meaningful multi-generational & gender reach. Two main events which will continue to underscore our passion for bringing people together in some of the world’s biggest sports tournaments. Plus, we are continuously exploring additional events that will add progressive properties that help us build meaningfulness & difference on global scale.

We still have 2 more years to make the Champions League sponsorship big and keep the association with the Heineken brand in the minds of people for years to come.  It has been a great ride, and in the spirit of our pioneering mindset and continuing to build meaningfulness & difference for our brands, we are proud to be investing in the future.

- END -

Enquiries 

Original statement from the 26th February, 2025 is below

We are deeply concerned about the evolving conflict in the Eastern areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our employees and their families. Prior to the conflict reaching Goma and Bukavu, our local Operating Company ‘Bralima’ suspended all operations and provided resources so that our local colleagues could shelter at home with regular safety check-ins.

On 15^th February, following the withdrawal of the Congolese forces and police, widespread looting occurred in Bukavu by the local civilian population. This affected businesses and NGOs, including Bralima’s depots and brewery which were extensively looted. This included the theft of large amounts of stock, raw materials and spare parts as well as significant damage to the brewery control room. Assessing the full extent of the damage will take time.

On 20^th February, the Bralima depot in Uvira was looted by military and militia groups.  We are greatly relieved that no Bralima colleagues or their families were harmed. Our business operations remain suspended in Goma, Bukavu and surrounding areas. Our focus remains on doing all that we can to ensure the safety of our colleagues and support them during these challenging times.

Bralima will continue to operate as normal in the remainder of DRC while taking all precautions necessary to protect our colleagues in the DRC.

Arnest Group owns a major can packaging business and is the largest Russian manufacturer of cosmetics, household goods and metal packaging for the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector.

Key Highlights

• The purchase price for the HEINEKEN Russia business is €1 for 100% of the shares.
• All remaining assets including 7 breweries in Russia will transfer to the new owners.
• Arnest Group has taken responsibility for the 1,800 HEINEKEN employees in Russia, providing employment guarantees for the next three years.   
• In addition to the Heineken® brand which was removed from Russia in 2022, production of Amstel will be phased out within 6 months.
• No other international brands will be licensed in Russia with the exception of a 3-year licence for some smaller regional brands which are required to ensure business continuity and secure transaction approval. HEINEKEN will provide no brand support and will receive no proceeds, royalties or fees from Russia.
• There is no call option to return to Russia.

Financial Implications

• As a result of exiting Russia, HEINEKEN expects total non-cash exceptional losses amounting to €300m including cumulative foreign exchange losses relating to Russia currently recorded in equity. This includes a commitment from Arnest Group to repay the historical intercompany debt of the Russian business of approximately €100m due to HEINEKEN in instalments.
• The transaction will have negligible impact on diluted EPS (beia) and HEINEKEN’s full year 2023 outlook is unchanged from the sale.

HEINEKEN’s CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board Dolf van den Brink said: “We have now completed our exit from Russia. Recent developments demonstrate the significant challenges faced by large manufacturing companies in exiting Russia. While it took much longer than we had hoped, this transaction secures the livelihoods of our employees and allows us to exit the country in a responsible manner.”

Update: Kaiser has successfully obtained an interim decision to remove its name from the Register of Employers (Cadastro de Empregadores), also known as the "Dirty List" (Lista Suja), an inclusion that was the result of procedural irregularities. Kaiser will work with the relevant authorities to solve this matter definitively.

In March 2021, HEINEKEN Brazil was made aware of labor violations by Transportadora Sider, one of its transportation service providers, following an inspection by the Brazilian Labour Ministry. Unacceptable practices were found within Sider, directly involving transportation employees servicing HEINEKEN Brazil and others. These practices were in clear breach of the HEINEKEN Supplier Code of Conduct and swift disciplinary action was taken. (Note: Sider represented less than 1% of HEINEKEN Brazil’s logistics expenditure at that time.)

HEINEKEN Brazil ensured that Sider promptly offered lodging, financial assistance, and emotional support to the affected employees. HEINEKEN Brazil also conducted a comprehensive review and ultimately terminated all business relations with Sider. Furthermore, HEINEKEN Brazil implemented a more rigorous supplier governance process, in addition to maintaining stringent enforcement of its Supplier Code of Conduct.

Beyond these actions, HEINEKEN Brazil invested approximately EUR 3.6 million to establish new facilities at all its breweries, designed to cater to the needs of truck drivers during shipment drop-offs and pick-ups. These facilities include resting areas, fully equipped restrooms with showers, and a dining facility.

On a global scale, HEINEKEN adheres to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and the OECD Guidelines for multinationals. The company's Code of Business Conduct, Human Rights Policy, and Supplier Code serve as comprehensive frameworks for assessing, mitigating, and addressing human rights risks worldwide. In 2022, HEINEKEN introduced a dedicated internal control, known as HeiRule, to enable operating companies to self-assess compliance with standards and enhance accountability for the implementation of its Human Rights Policy. Furthermore, the company has updated its global Human Rights Policy Implementation Guide, which offers practical insights into the execution of its Human Rights Policy. These guidelines are made publicly accessible on the company’s website.

HEINEKEN continually strives to refine its approach to ensure that all individuals associated with its operations are treated with utmost respect, dignity, and fairness.

We’ve been in Russia for 20 years and we’re the third largest brewer in the country. We have 7 breweries and around 1800 colleagues across the country. The Russian business accounts for around 2% of our global sales.

What we did when the war started

We took quick action, stopping new investments into Russia, ending beer exports and stopping the production, sale and advertising of the Heineken® brand. We undertook a strategic review of the business and on 28^th March, announced our decision to leave Russia and transfer the business to a new owner.  We made it clear that we would financially ringfence the business – meaning no money would flow into Russia and no money would flow out. This meant we would not accept any royalties, fees or dividends.  Our aim was to make sure that we would not profit from activities in Russia while we found a new owner.

The dilemmas we faced

We faced two major dilemmas at the start of the war and these continue today:

• Protect the livelihoods and safety of local employees - we wanted to leave as quickly as possible, but we also had a responsibility to look after our employees.  People ask why not simply suspend or close the Russian operations? The truth is the business would’ve very quickly gone bankrupt, and as a result, employees would have lost their livelihoods. And because as everyone knows, its hard to sell a loss-making business, we would’ve deprived them of a chance of future employment with a suitable new owner. 
  
  Bankruptcy could also have led to criminal prosecutions of our managers in the country.  Two days after we announced the withdrawal of Brand Heineken®, we received letters from local authorities warning of prosecutions if this decision led to the suspension or closure of our Russian operations. This is because ‘intentional bankruptcy’ is a criminal offence in Russia. At the same time, legislation was going through the Russian Parliament to give the government authority to nationalise foreign companies that left or stopped operations. We assessed these risks as significant and still do.
   
• Avoiding nationalisation - If we couldn’t find a suitable owner, would it be better for employees if the business was nationalised?  Here we had two points of view.  First, we don’t think the Russian state or the people closest to it would have the best interests of our people at heart. Second, we were uncomfortable that the Russian state should benefit from forced appropriation of major business assets.  So, we decided we should do everything possible to avoid nationalisation, while leaving as quickly as possible.

Our guiding principles

In navigating the complexity of this situation and the dilemmas it poses, we created three guiding principles for our decision-making, which are aligned to our company values:

1. Care and safety of local employees  – we’ll do our best to secure the future livelihoods of our almost 1,800 employees. In addition to finding a responsible party to buy the business, this also means keeping the business afloat until the sale to avoid bankruptcy, which is particularly challenging since the Russia business is now self-funding with no money flowing in from HEINEKEN Group. 
2. No financial gain – we’ve financially ring-fenced the business – meaning no money is going into Russia and no money is going out. This means no royalties, no fees and no dividends are paid to the HEINEKEN Group from Russia.  We don’t profit from the ongoing operations and we won’t profit from the transfer of ownership. We actually expect a loss of approximately €300 million.
3. Keep our promise to leave Russia – we’re working hard to exit Russia and to secure the necessary approvals for the sale of our business.

The challenge we face

We fully recognise that it’s frustrating that the sale is not yet completed. We’re also frustrated by how long the process is taking. It’s challenging to close a transaction in Russia as the rules for selling companies have continued to shift. All business transfers need multiple approvals by the local authorities and the criteria for approvals has changed many times. We can’t control that timetable or process, but we’re working hard to do what is in our control. We’re not the only business struggling to exit – recent academic research shows that only 9% of businesses have left Russia, and recent developments including the nationalisation of businesses shows it has become even more challenging to secure exit approval.

What happens next?

We announced in April 2023 that we had submitted an application for approval to the Russian Authorities for a sale of the business and we continue to work hard to secure the transaction. Meanwhile, we’vee taken concrete steps to decouple the business from the HEINEKEN Group in preparation for the transfer.

Care for the people of Ukraine

When Russia invaded Ukraine, we partnered with Habitat for Humanity in a co-ordinated effort to help Ukrainian refugees find emergency accommodation and longerterm shelter in Ukraine’s neighbouring countries. Through a global fundraising effort, we contributed over €1 million which enabled Habitat to support over 4,500 refugees with free short-term accommodation, 1,200 with subsidised mid-term accommodation, and 10,000 with shelter services at the border. We also donated €700,000 to 20 local NGOs in the four neighbouring countries. Immediate relief efforts were focused on transport and legal assistance, accommodation in hotels and apartments, medical and psycho-social support, and access to reliable information. Employees also opened their homes to Ukrainian refugees and we provided support for Ukrainian colleagues to relocate their families. We thank all of our employees for their ongoing efforts to support the Ukrainian people.

Your questions?

We hope this clarifies our position on Russia but we know that there may be other questions that some consumers, customers and colleagues have.  In the spirit of transparency, we answer the top questions we’ve received here.

This page was last updated on 25/08/23

This page includes some of the top questions we’ve received about our approach and commitment to leaving Russia.  For our full position and explanation of the challenges and dilemmas this poses, please visit our statement. We will update this Q+A page as required.

This page was last updated on 25.08.23

At HEINEKEN, we are committed to ensuring that every brand promoter representing our brands works in conditions that are safe, fair and respectful. Protecting their wellbeing has been a core part of our approach for many years and we continue to strengthen our standards and governance across all markets. In 2018, our global Brand Promoter Policy set clear requirements for areas such as safe transport, appropriate uniforms, formal contracts, working hours, living wage and accessible grievance mechanisms. This policy was refreshed in 2025 to align with evolving best practices and provide even clearer expectations for our operating companies, agencies and distributors. We have taken a structured, multi-year approach to improving the experience and safety of promoters: 

• Stronger oversight of third-party agencies: We have significantly streamlined the number of agencies we partner with, enabling more consistent monitoring and improved governance.
• Harassment prevention initiatives: Between 2019 and 2021, we delivered targeted training and conducted additional surveys involving more than 500 promoters to better identify risks and strengthen local action.
• Improved reporting and visibility: In 2025, we introduced a Brand Promoter App - enabling promoters to receive training and guidance to report any incidents through the Speak Up platform, supporting quicker follow‑up and better oversight.
• SMART Outsourcing: The SMART Outsourcing assessments conducted since 2021 ensure the implementation of decent working standards for on-site third-party employees and brand promoters.
• Capability building at scale: Our global e-learning programme for brand promoters has been completed more than 40,000 times and is available in 32 languages. It equips promoters to identify and respond to harassment or unwanted behaviour and to raise concerns safely.

Across all markets, our focus remains on continuous improvement and responsible business conduct. We are committed to working closely with partners, agencies and industry peers to ensure that brand promoters feel safe, supported and empowered, both today and in the future.

Previous update from 21 April 2021 below:

Brand Promoters, sometimes referred to as Beer Promoters, play an important role as ambassadors of our products, promoting our brand portfolio to consumers across the world. They are predominately employed by agencies and often work for various brands and companies. We are proud of the work they do and we want Brand Promoters to feel proud of their work with us. Our aim is to ensure safe working conditions for Brand Promoters. The following progress update sets out the steps we have taken to deliver on this commitment.

Our Actions

Brand Promoters were informed about our pro-active actions to improve their working conditions through a mandatory online training (accessible on mobile devices and PCs) in all relevant languages. In 2019 and 2020, we delivered this online training in 32 languages to more than 25,000 Brand Promoters, agencies and our own employees, worldwide. This training helps Brand Promoters become more aware of their rights and what to do in case they encounter harassment. We also continued providing our local support lines for Brand Promoters, which they can use to report issues.

As the majority of Brand Promoters are hired by agencies and work for many brands, we also continued to work extensively with the agencies that directly employ Brand Promoters in order to reinforce the principles of our Policy.

Based on feedback from NGOs and Brand Promoters themselves, we have increased gender balance in our teams of Brand Promoters in many of our markets.

To ensure continuous progress, we closely monitor compliance with our Brand Promoters Policy as part of our governance cycle. This includes an annual management self-assessment process. Additionally, HEINEKEN’s Global Audit team carried out audits in 15 countries in 2019 and 2020. Results showed how global implementation of the Brand Promoters Policy has progressed since its introduction in 2018.

Independent Assessment Results

To externally validate our progress in implementing the Policy, we continued in 2019 and 2020 with independent, third party assessments. They were conducted in 18 countries by Partner Africa, Impactt and ARCHE Advisors.

In 2020 assessments were limited due to COVID-19, and only carried out in the Africa region due to restrictions on travel and brand promoter activity. Incognito assessments of brand promotions in practice were unable to take place due to bar and restaurant closures. The 2020 assessment results should be considered a ‘snap shot’ of the situation at the time of the assessment.

The assessments were conducted in line with the Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit (SMETA) methodology, one of the most widely used ethical audit methodologies in the world. These assessments included interviews with 407 Brand Promoters in Africa, Asia and the Americas and 37 agencies were assessed.

Overall, the assessment results found that significant progress has been made to improve the working environment of Brand Promoters.

Partner Africa confirmed significant changes and improvements in the working environment of Brand Promoters and the support that they receive. In 2018 and 2019, the single biggest issue was an absence of policies and management systems amongst the agencies, but this has clearly improved in 2020. During interviews in 2019, Brand Promoters reported 11 instances of harassment that had been handled appropriately according to them. In 2020, no instances of harassment were mentioned.

In the Americas region, ARCHE Advisors reported continued improvements by all agencies in meeting dress code requirements as well as wage systems in 2020. (Based on 2019 assessments), ARCHE identified one agency whereby Brand Promoters had experienced sexual harassment by customers. We have demanded that this agency improve supervision and reporting in order to protect its Brand Promoters. No assessments were carried out in the Americas in 2020, but will resume in 2021.

In the Asia Pacific region, Impactt found that all operating companies demonstrated continued commitment to implementation of the policy and communication of the policy requirements to agencies, customers and Brand Promoters. During interviews, Brand Promoters reported that the new uniforms made them feel more comfortable and reduced the risk of harassment. None of the 236 Brand Promoters interviewed in 2019 reported cases of harassment of any type in the follow up assessments. Impactt reported a range of findings predominately related to payroll administration of agencies. Assessments in the Asia Pacific region will continue in 2021.

The feedback of third party assessors is important to us. We have created and executed action plans based on their findings and recommendations. We are committed to working with third party assessors that play a valuable role in helping us protect Brand Promoters around the world.

Going Forward

We know that improving the working conditions of Brand Promoters globally is an ongoing process, requiring close collaboration within the industry in order to structurally address this topic. We have made it a clear objective to lead the industry in delivering these changes. In 2021, we will upgrade our Brand Promoter Platform to get real time reports on training status, reports of harassment and evaluation of actual working days of our promoters. We plan to achieve this through a new App based tool in early 2022. This way we will be less dependent on reports looking backwards and be able to act quickly if leading indicators deviating.

In 2019, several of our peers have also published brand promoters policies, which are very similar to ours. However, we also need the support of others to drive long lasting change. That is why we will continue working together with NGOs, third party agencies, and Brand Promoters to continue to make these changes a reality.

Alleged HEINEKEN lotteries, promotions, job offers or even work permits and accommodation are wrongfully being promoted or promised under the HEINEKEN name, even with HEINEKEN imagery and logos copied from official websites. In some cases, personal names of HEINEKEN officers, the HEINEKEN logo or other HEINEKEN imagery are even copied and used for these purposes to give the impression that it is genuine.

Not only HEINEKEN, but thousands of other national or international companies and brand names are confronted with this kind of fraud.

HEINEKEN wants to emphasize that it is neither related to the described lotteries, prize draws or job offers, nor is it connected to any alleged organization that communicated it. Where possible, we report fraud like this to the relevant (local) authorities and ask them to investigate the origin of all these communications. HEINEKEN also asks for measures, if possible, against such organisations.

We strongly recommend that you do not open any documents attached to those communications, and that you do not respond in any way to such communications received, hence do not give any personal information or bank details.

As a global company we work in a wide variety of environments across the world, each of which has its own challenges. We always aim to make a positive contribution in the countries and communities in which we operate.

Africa can be a challenging place to do business. We are proud that HEINEKEN has operated in Africa for more than a century, and we are committed to the region, and to its people.

We have made it a priority to carefully consider the content of this book, and we do not agree with many of the allegations Olivier van Beemen makes. We found that a lot of the claims made are based on hearsay and half-truths, many of which happened many years ago. As a result, HEINEKEN is presented in a way we simply do not recognise.

However, we are open to dialogue and criticism and recognise that there are issues we need to address, we take clear and decisive steps to improving our business practices.

To learn more about our presence in Africa, visit www.theheinekencompany.com/media/features/growing-together-in-africa.

Notre réaction au livre “Heineken en Afrique”

Le livre Heineken en Afrique – Une multinationale décomplexée, écrit par le journaliste néerlandais Olivier van Beemen, formule un certain nombre d’affirmations concernant nos activités en Afrique. Nous les avons examinées et tenons fermement à exprimer notre désaccord quant à nombre d’entre elles. De nombreuses affirmations se basent sur des rumeurs et des propos sortis de leur contexte, faisant référence à des événements datant parfois de plusieurs dizaines d’années. Ainsi, HEINEKEN ne s’identifie absolument pas à l’image donnée dans cet ouvrage.

En tant qu’entreprise internationale, nous évoluons dans des environnements très diversifiés possédant chacun leurs propres spécificités. Notre première priorité est de contribuer positivement au développement des pays dans lesquels nous sommes actifs. Notre présence plus que centenaire en Afrique est une grande fierté et témoigne de notre engagement renouvelé au sein du continent et auprès de ses peuples. Pour autant, nous recherchons en permanence les points d’amélioration. Ainsi nous demeurons ouverts au débat et à la critique et s’il y a des agissements non conformes aux règlementations et/ou à nos règles de bonne conduite internes, nous prenons toutes les mesures nécessaires pour les corriger. Nous faisons cela depuis toujours sur tous les sujets et continuerons à le faire. Pour en savoir plus sur notre présence en Afrique cliquez ici.