Nestle apologies for gift gaffe
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Swiss-based food company Nestle has apologised to Azerbaijan after CDs it handed out free with packets of breakfast products angered the former Soviet state by accusing it of provoking war with its neighbour.
Azerbaijan made an official protest after discs aimed at children across Russia stated it had provoked a war with Armenia over the separatist Nagorno-Karabakh territory. Nestle has halted distribution of the CDs.
"It's a complete disaster as a statement, first it is incorrect, there are many views. It is also absolutely not the right place for it, it is a catastrophe," said Andrey Bader, Nestle's corporate affairs director for Russia.
The conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh between Azeri and Armenian forces claimed an estimated 35,000 lives and despite a ceasefire in 1994 the issue remains highly sensitive in both countries. Armenia supports the separatists.
Azerbaijan wrote to Nestle's headquarters in Switzerland to complain about the disc.
"We have sent an official letter expressing discontent and Nestle offered apologies and withdrew all the CDs which had been distributed," said a spokesman for the Azeri Foreign Ministry.
"Every measure which was possible has been taken," he said, noting the CDs were not distributed in Azerbaijan itself.
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