2023-07-17 01:33:00
The Russian state took control of the local assets of the French agrifood group Danone and the Danish brewery Carlsberg, which announced their intention to leave the country shortly after the start of the offensive in Ukraine, according to a decree published this Sunday (16).
The decree, signed by President Vladimir Putin, states that the state has “provisionally” taken custody of 98.5% of the shares in Russian brewery Baltika, which Carlsberg owns, and tens of thousands of shares in Danone’s Russian subsidiaries.
Carlsberg announced at the end of June that it had found an unidentified buyer for its activities in Russia, more than a year after it announced its departure from the country because of military intervention in Ukraine.
“Following the presidential decree, the prospects for this sale process are now very uncertain,” acknowledged Carlsberg in a statement this Sunday.
At the end of March 2022, the group had disclosed the sale of important activities in Russia, where it had 8,400 employees and had owned the Baltika brand since 2000.
Danone said this Sunday that it “takes note of the decree of the Russian authorities, which seeks to temporarily place Danone Russia under external administration” and guaranteed that it is “currently analyzing the situation”.
In a statement, he added that he is “preparing to take all necessary measures to protect his rights as a shareholder of Danone Russia and the continuity of the company’s operations in the interest of all parties involved, especially its employees”.
Danone had announced in October its intention to sell 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 sell control of the “dairy and vegetable” sector in the country, keeping only the infant nutrition department.
Danone announced that the operation could “imply a depreciation of up to one billion euros”.
Several multinationals left Russia or suspended their activities in the country after the start of the offensive in Ukraine, on February 24, 2022, and the sanctions of the western powers against Moscow that were announced since then.
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