The French hotel group Accor continues to operate in Ukraine as in Russia, because it provides “extremely precious, even essential” services there, defended its CEO Sébastien Bazin this Saturday on France Inter radio, adding that it does not contribute to the Russian war effort because it does not “pay taxes” in Russia.
“I don’t make money there, so no one can tell me that I am financing the Russian war” in Ukraine, he explained. “I don’t pay taxes because I lose money there, we are at 32% occupancy rate while we are starting to earn money at 55%”, he said. continued, ensuring that there was no economic interest left, at least in the short term.
Sébastien Bazin thus responds to the voices calling for French companies to leave Russia. With in mind the candidate Yannick Jadot who has spearheaded the challenge of French activity in Russia, and while many multinationals have left.
“We are present in difficult times all over the world, Accor has never in 50 years closed a hotel in a conflict zone,” he explained. “Collaborators are the only thing I care about, if they are not there we cannot function. I have 3,800 of them in Russia in 55 hotels of which I am not the owner but the manager and therefore responsible for these employees. »
Valuable services rendered, or economic interests?
He felt that “the service we provide in Russia is extremely valuable, even essential for the media, charities, foreign delegations who come to negotiate on the spot”. “If we close you will no longer have any witnesses there,” he warned. Before explaining that he had no reason to sanction Russian customers.
Sébastien Bazin also assured that he perceived among his Russian collaborators a distress “greater than that of those in Ukraine”. “In Ukraine there is a kind of positive energy, smiles, the employees are there, in distress with full hotels, whereas in Russia we have people in tears, who do not understand the situation, to whom I try to explain things that are the opposite of what they are told on television”.
“I am sorry to tell you this but there is greater distress among my collaborators in Russia than that which I receive in Ukraine, for reasons which are obviously totally different”, he said, specifying that his collaborators Ukrainians “are not asking to close in Russia”. The group, which had 7 hotels in Ukraine, has “three more open in kyiv and Lviv” and has repatriated many of its 700 employees to the country, detailed the CEO of Accor. And “100% of our attention is on Ukraine”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently accused French companies operating in Russia before the French Parliament of being “sponsors of Russia’s war machine”, as important taxpayers. If the group’s losses prove effective, maintaining Accor is not devoid of strategic interest. Once the crisis is over, it will then be possible to maintain or increase its market share.