Royal House sticks with Ecco despite Russia situation

Danish footwear firm has immense stake in the country and has so far rebuffed all calls to pull out of the market

Apr 12, 2022

Since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, there has been a mass exodus of Danish companies from Russia.

Carlsberg, Jysk, Vestas and Hempel are just some of the big firms to pull the plug on the lucrative market in response to the war.

But footwear firm Ecco is treading a different path – choosing instead to keep its stores in Russia open in spite of immense public criticism in Denmark.

Now it has emerged that despite the backlash at home, the Royal Family has so far decided against kicking Ecco off its list of official court suppliers.

When confronted with the dilemma, the Royal House stated that it wouldn’t comment on individual cases but that it was “monitoring the situation closely”.

There since 1993
The firm, owned by one of Denmark’s wealthiest families – the Kasprzak family in southern Jutland – has stated it will stay in Russia so as to not abandon its employees there.

Since making that statement however, Ecco has been close-mouthed about the situation.

In comparison to some of the other Danish companies that have left Russia, Ecco has a huge stake in the country, employing over 1,800 people in some 250 shops.

The company has a long history there too. Active in Russia since 1993, leaving would significantly impact the company’s bottom line.

The Russian market accounted for 1.3 billion kroner of the company’s overall turnover of 8.2 billion kroner in 2020.

TOP STORIES

Danish politicians will double life science exports in a few years

“Strategy for life science” is a policy agreement to support the pharmaceutical industry’s opportunities to double exports to DKK 350 billion towards 2030
Royal House unveils new portraits of King Frederik and Queen Mary

Ten months after Frederik went from crown prince to king, new civil portraits of the new royal couple have been taken.
“Without internationals, we wouldn’t have the people we need,” says Fujifilm

Fujifilm’s Hillerød facility thrives with a diverse workforce, employing over 1,800 people from more than 65 nationalities. Morten Munk, Director of Global Alliance Management, highlights how the company’s rapid growth relies on attracting international talent due to Denmark’s limited pool of scientific professionals.
Denmark’s green transition is world class – according to the global climate index

No country has an ambitious enough climate policy to be awarded first, second or third place in global climate policy. Denmark holds 4th-place ranking in the Climate Change Performance Index
“Now the biggest challenge is to retain internationals”, says Ferring

Mads Hougaard, senior HR director at the pharmaceutical company, explains that “it is also a challenge for society itself. I think collaboration between institutions, companies, and stakeholders could be beneficial.”
“How on earth do you learn all those lines?”

This is the question actors are often asked. Actors dread it because they always hope that their performance was what mattered most, not the mechanics of getting there

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

5 Dec: A guided tour of Christiansborg

Career

“Without internationals, we wouldn’t have the people we need,” says Fujifilm

Fujifilm’s Hillerød facility thrives with a diverse workforce, employing over 1,800 people from more than 65 nationalities. Morten Munk, Director of Global Alliance Management, highlights how the company’s rapid growth relies on attracting international talent due to Denmark’s limited pool of scientific professionals.
“Now the biggest challenge is to retain internationals”, says Ferring

Mads Hougaard, senior HR director at the pharmaceutical company, explains that “it is also a challenge for society itself. I think collaboration between institutions, companies, and stakeholders could be beneficial.”
Only 0.3% of people enrolled in the tax course are unemployed, Københavns Professionshøjskole says

According to a screening conducted by Københavns Professionshøjskole (KP) among its graduates, those with the highest chance of success in finding a job are tax specialists: after graduation, only 0.3% of people enrolled in the tax course are unemployed. Very close to them are the professionals who graduated in Midwifery (with 0.4% unemployment).

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Jobs