In Ukraine, scrolling through your news feed every evening is a macabre ritual. Like millions of Ukrainians, I do this, not for entertainment or amusement, but to ensure that my loved ones have not been harmed by Russian strikes. More and more missiles and drones are intercepted, but each projectile that manages to pass causes devastation: in a single particularly violent night, Russia launched 23 cruise missiles, causing the death of at least 25 Ukrainians in Uman and in Dnipro, including seven children.
During one of these nightly consultations of my newsfeed, I came across a piece of information that I could not pass up. His subject was not the murderous Russian campaign on Ukrainian soil, but tennis. The iconic French company Lacoste, sponsor of the equally iconic Roland-Garros Tournament, quietly continues to do business with Putin’s Russia. Its dozens of shops in Moscow remain open, including one in Red Square, supplied by a longtime associate in Turkey.
Lacoste Crocodile Tears
The French have warmly welcomed more than 100,000 Ukrainians fleeing the indiscriminate violence inflicted by Russia on our country. This solidarity is admirable; humanity at work.
For Lacoste, solidarity means shedding crocodile tears. In August 2022, the company said it had “ceased all shipments to Russia”. Yet in the first quarter of 2023, the volume of Lacoste goods shipped to Russia was higher than before the war. Representing tens of millions of dollars worth of clothing since the invasion of my country, the imports come from a longtime Lacoste associate in Turkey.
The company may hide behind tales of associates and third parties, but who really owns the logo on those expensive t-shirts? How much do they bring to the Paris headquarters? And how much tax goes to the Russian government, which will then buy shells, which in turn will kill Ukrainian children?
As the main sponsor of the Roland-Garros Tournament, the Lacoste brand will be displayed everywhere in Paris in the coming weeks. When you see the crocodile, think about the company’s decision to stay in Russia – despite the 80,000 reported war crimes, despite the tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians who died, despite the arrest warrant issued by the Court international criminal law against the Russian head of state, accused of having kidnapped Ukrainian children. Think of the news feed we scroll through every night in fear and the Ukrainians fighting against Russia, risking their lives for our freedom.
Lacoste must withdraw from the Russian market for the sake of its own reputation and that of Roland-Garros. There is only one moral way to do business in Russia: after the restoration of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and after being assured of accountability for war crimes, crimes against humanity and the destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure.
[Contacté par L’Express, Lacoste a souhaité apporter cette réponse : “Dès les premiers jours de la guerre en Ukraine, sans attendre les mesures restrictives sur les exportations à l’encontre de la Russie, Lacoste a suspendu toutes ses expéditions et approvisionnements vers la Russie. Par ailleurs, aucun salarié employé par Lacoste n’opère en Russie. Les ventes qui sont réalisées sous la marque Lacoste en Russie, le sont par un partenaire indépendant qui opère la marque dans la région. Nous tenons à être très clairs, Lacoste respecte strictement les directives européennes et n’exporte pas de produit vers la Russie que ce soit de manière directe ou indirecte. Ce distributeur opère dans la région mais aussi en Turquie, en Pologne et en Ukraine via des franchisés sur toute la région d’Europe de l’Est. Ce distributeur possède une licence de fabrication”.]