Two months after the Japanese beer giant Kirin announced it was considering cutting ties with its military-conglomerate partner, a brewery the two jointly own announced $155.9m in second-quarter revenue.
“These profits are paying for violations of international law,” said Mark Farmaner, director of Burma Campaign UK.
In June, after the military-owned Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL) ignored document requests from a Kirin due diligence effort, the Japanese company hired financial consultancy Deloitte “to determine the destination of proceeds” from the Myanmar Brewery.
“The Deloitte investigation appears to be a desperate attempt by Kirin to find some technicality it can use to stay in business with the military,” Mark Farmaner said after the earnings report was released.