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BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityWorldAfricaAsiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastUS & CanadaPeter Pellegrini: Russia-friendly populist elected Slovak presidentPublished4 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, ReutersImage caption, Peter Pellegrini is an ally of Prime Minister Robert FicoBy Rob CameronBBC News, PraguePopulist Peter Pellegrini has been elected president of Slovakia, succeeding the liberal Zuzana Caputova. Mr Pellegrini, 48, defeated the pro-Western Ivan Korcok, a former diplomat, with 53% of the vote.A former prime minister, he is an ally of Prime Minister Robert Fico, and shares the PM’s dovish attitude towards Russia.Mr Fico and his allies now control Slovakia’s parliament, government and soon the president’s office.Slovakia had been one of Ukraine’s staunchest allies before Mr Fico came to power in October on a pledge to halt supplies of Slovak Army military stocks to Kyiv. With Mr Pellegrini replacing Mrs Caputova, Ukraine has now definitively lost a voice of support in an EU and Nato capital. Mr Fico has called for an end to Western military support for Ukraine, an immediate ceasefire and peace talks with Moscow. Mr Fico said recently President Vladimir Putin had been “unfairly demonised” and argued admitting Ukraine to Nato would mark the beginning of a third world war.Mr Pellegrini’s campaign echoed some of that Moscow-friendly rhetoric, accusing Mr Korcok of being a warmonger who would send Slovak soldiers to fight in Ukraine – a constitutional power the president does not have.Once Mrs Caputova steps down in June, there will no longer be any high-level official in Slovakia – a country which barely a year ago donated its entire fleet of MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine – who unequivocally backs Kyiv’s effort to defend its territory with force.The liberal pro-Western opposition also accuses Mr Pellegrini – as head of the coalition Hlas party and chairman of parliament – of remaining silent as Mr Fico took a wrecking ball to Slovakia’s criminal justice system, notably abolishing the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which was set up 20 years ago to investigate serious corruption and economic crime.It had tried a number of senior officials in Mr Fico’s Smer party, and had been overseeing the prosecution of those believed to be responsible for the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kusnirova in 2018.The killings were a seismic event in Slovak politics. The fallout ended Mr Fico’s second premiership in 2018 and led to the liberal, pro-Western Zuzana Caputova being elected president on a wave of popular anger at official corruption and organised crime.Robert Fico’s government recently set its sights on Slovakia’s public broadcaster, submitting plans to abolish the institution and replace it with one under virtual state control. Those plans were put on the back burner after a surprisingly poor showing from Peter Pellegrini in the first round of the presidential election two weeks ago.The opposition fears a reinvigorated Robert Fico will resubmit them – and they say President-elect Pellegrini is unlikely to stand in his way.Related TopicsEuropeWar in UkraineSlovakiaMore on this storySlovakia’s election winner assembles coalitionPublished11 October 2023Populist pro-Moscow party wins Slovak votePublished1 October 2023Top StoriesThousands of Israelis rally to demand hostage dealPublished6 hours agoPM marks six months of Israel-Gaza war as UK sends Navy ship for aidPublished1 hour agoDozens of UK flights cancelled as Storm Kathleen sweeps inPublished7 hours agoFeaturesThe Papers: ‘Gaza famine’ warning and Corrie ‘budgeting row’The eclipse’s 4-minute window into the Sun’s secretsWhere in the UK can you see Monday’s solar eclipse?7 lessons from my first series of University ChallengeThe singer-songwriters who are pop’s new breakout starsIndigenous deaths in custody haunt AustraliaSix months on, how close is Israel to eliminating Hamas?Path of darkness – scroll every mile of total eclipse’A game of Jenga’: Inside the perilous Baltimore bridge clean-upElsewhere on the BBCGet a job, pay the bills. 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[ad_1] Peter Pellegrini accused his rival of being a warmonger who would send Slovak soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
![BBC HomepageSkip to contentAccessibility HelpYour accountLiveNotificationsHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeMore menuMore menuSearch BBCHomeNewsSportWeatheriPlayerSoundsBitesizeCBBCCBeebiesFoodClose menuBBC NewsMenuHomeIsrael-Gaza warCost of LivingWar in UkraineClimateUKWorldBusinessPoliticsCultureMoreTechScienceHealthFamily & EducationIn PicturesNewsbeatBBC VerifyDisabilityBusinessMarket DataEconomyYour MoneyCompaniesTechnology of BusinessCEO SecretsArtificial IntelligenceBeauty giant Avon under fire over Russia linksPublished6 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingRelated TopicsWar in UkraineImage source, Getty ImagesBy Lora JonesBusiness reporter, BBC NewsBeauty giant Avon has come under fire for maintaining links with Russia despite the ongoing war in Ukraine.The BBC has discovered the firm is still recruiting new sales agents in the country and continuing production in a huge plant in the Moscow region.Avon, which has its headquarters in the UK, started doing business in Russia 30 years ago.The firm said that it provides “critical support” for women whose livelihoods depend on their business.The 137-year-old company is best known for its door-to-door sales representatives who demonstrate the application of its cosmetics, perfumes and creams first-hand.The company has, however, transformed in recent years with a renewed focus on physical shops and social media sales.At the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Avon announced it was stopping investment and suspending exports of its beauty items from Russia to other markets, including Ukraine.Avon’s parent company, the Brazilian firm Natura & Co, previously emphasised it was only maintaining local operations to support its sales agents who are reliant on their business.”We believe restricting their access to products would have an outsize impact on women and children there,” it said.However, the BBC has found it is still possible to register as a new sales agent for the firm in Russia, with recruits offered prizes, cash bonuses and even holidays for hitting targets.Image caption, A welcome email offers new recruits the chance to start on an “Easy Start” sales programmeThe website offers Russian citizens over the age of 18 access to “iconic, high-quality products” and describes the additional income they might be able to make, creating their “own life” as a beauty expert.After registering online, the BBC received a welcome email with the chance to begin an “Easy Start” sales programme and contact details for a local co-ordinator.In a YouTube video published on Avon Russia’s account celebrating the 30-year anniversary, senior managers describe awards ceremonies, training in social media management and how to improve sales, with trips abroad offered as rewards for its top sellers who are in its “Star Club”.An Avon spokesperson said: “Avon Russia supports women in Russia through locally funded activities to support their social selling businesses.”We see this as critical support for women whose livelihoods depend on their Avon business.” ‘No excuse’Russia has been described as a key market for the beauty giant.Steven Tian, part of a team of researchers at Yale University who track what companies have done in response to the Ukraine war, said the company should be “ashamed” for continuing to do business in Russia.”There is no excuse for continuing to fund Putin’s war machine… and [there] has been more than enough time to allow for companies to exit in an orderly way,” he said.Mark Dixon, founder of the Moral Rating Agency, which campaigns against firms doing business in Russia, accused Avon of “moral-washing” for continuing some operations in the country while its parent company Natura & Co expresses concern for “all people impacted by this unacceptable aggression” in Ukraine on its website.Mr Dixon called for Ukraine to ban Avon from operating in the country and for the “army of Avon reps” and consumers “to take a stand”.”How can [Avon] in good faith sell products for women and children from a company that supports the economy behind Putin’s invasion of Ukraine?” he asked.Avon rings changes with launch of first UK storesThe firm started its operations in Russia in the early 1990s, and has since enjoyed enormous success there.According to Avon’s Russian website, it is the number one perfume brand in the country. It opened its Naro-Fominsk plant in the Moscow area in 2004, where it produces more than 220 types of cosmetics and perfumes. More than 2.5 billion units have been manufactured there since its opening.Avon told the BBC that the plant in Naro-Fominsk now exclusively serves the Russian market.Around the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the company told the Interfax news agency it was looking into relocating production for Eastern European markets from Naro-Fominsk to Poland, and it appears to have fulfilled this pledge.When a contact placed an order with Avon in Russia in late October last year, three of the four products they received had been produced in its Naro-Fominsk plant, with one made in Poland.Image caption, Avon continues production for the Russian market in a huge plant in the Moscow regionA contact also placed an order with Avon Ukraine locally, in order to verify whether or not exports from Russia had indeed been suspended. Five items, previously known to be produced in the Naro-Fominsk factory near Moscow, were ordered and all of them were marked as being made in Poland.Natura & Co has said in the past there is “no financial advantage” to the firm being in Russia.In its latest update to investors, Natura & Co said in the three months to the end of November, Avon International’s sales fell by 11.8% to 1.73bn Brazilian reais (£276m) when compared with the same period the year before.Natura & Co said in its 2022 annual report that Avon had been heavily impacted by the war in Ukraine and by a “planned decrease” in the number of sales representatives as it shifts to a new business model.Avon, which moved its headquarters to the UK in 2016, recently announced that it is about to open physical stores in Britain for the first time.The company was founded in the US in 1886 by David McConnell, who mixed scents himself in a small office in New York.Natura & Co’s acquisition of Avon in 2020 was considered a landmark deal, creating the world’s fourth-largest group of cosmetics companies.More recently, however, the Brazilian firm said it would sell beauty brand The Body Shop for £207m “to simplify and refocus its operations”.Under Natura & Co’s ownership, the retailer redesigned its stores and introduced a refills service, but failed to turn around its finances.Related TopicsCompaniesWar in UkraineCosmeticsRussiaMore on this storyAvon rings changes with launch of first UK storesPublished13 November 2023Burger King still in Russia despite pledge to exitPublished3 October 2023Top StoriesUN agency condemns aid halt over alleged Hamas attack helpPublished9 hours agoPost Office chairman asked to step downPublished27 minutes agoEx-minister of secretive sect admits child abusePublished7 hours agoFeaturesWho invented butter chicken? 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