[Translation prepared by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

During Roland Garros, very good sales of Lacoste in Russia, 1 June 2023

...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...

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.

[Contacted by L'Express, Lacoste wished to provide this response: "From the first days of the war in Ukraine, without waiting for the restrictive measures on exports against Russia, Lacoste suspended all its shipments and supplies to Russia. Moreover, no employee employed by Lacoste operates in Russia. Sales that are made under the Lacoste brand in Russia are made by an independent partner who operates the brand in the region. We want to be very clear, Lacoste strictly respects European directives and does not export products to Russia, either directly or indirectly. This distributor operates in the region but also in Turkey, Poland and Ukraine via franchisees throughout Eastern Europe. This distributor has a manufacturing license."]