The state Russian seized control of the local assets of the French agri-food group Danone and the Danish brewer Carlsberg, which had announced their intention to leave the country after the start of the offensive in Ukraine, according to a decree published on Sunday.
The decree, signed by President Vladimir Putin, indicates that the State “provisionally” assumed custody of 98.5% of the shares of the Russian brewery Baltika, belonging to Carlsberg, and tens of thousands of shares of the Russian subsidiaries of Danone.
Carlsberg had announced at the end of June that it had found an unnamed buyer for its activities in Russia, more than a year after announcing its withdrawal from the country because of the military intervention in Ukraine.
“Following the presidential decree, the prospects for this sale process are now very uncertain,” Carlsberg acknowledged in a statement on Sunday.
The group had announced at the end of March 2022 the sale of its important activities in Russia, where it had a workforce of 8,400 employees and had owned the Baltika brand since 2000.
Danone said on Sunday that it had “taken note of the decree of the Russian authorities, which seeks to temporarily place Danone Russia under external administration” and assured that it was “currently studying the situation.”
In a statement, it added that it was “preparing to take all necessary measures to protect its rights as a shareholder of Danone Russia, and the continuity of the company’s operations in the interest of all stakeholders, in particular its employees.”
Danone had announced in October its intention to divest most of its activities in Russia.
The French group, which at first defended its presence in Russia to respond to the “essential needs of the civilian population”, finally decided to cede control of its “dairy and vegetable products” branch and retain that of child nutrition.
Danone specified at that time that the operation could “imply a depreciation of up to 1,000 million euros” (about 1,120 million dollars at current exchange rates).
Many multinationals left Russia or suspended their activities in that country after the start of the offensive in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the sanctions imposed by Western powers against Moscow that have followed since then.
Prepared with information from AFP
Source: Gestion
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