Russian Government Takes Control of Danone’s Russian Subsidiary and Carlsberg’s Stake in Local Brewer
MOSCOW, July 16 – The Russian state has announced that it will be taking control of French yoghurt maker Danone’s Russian subsidiary, as well as Danish beer company Carlsberg’s stake in a local brewer. This decision was made official through a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
According to the decree, the foreign-owned stakes in Danone Russia and Baltika Breweries will be placed under the “temporary management” of Rosimushchestvo, which is the government property agency. This move comes after the Russian subsidiaries of Germany’s Uniper and Finland’s Fortum were also taken under state control in April.
At that time, the Kremlin had warned about the possibility of seizing more Western assets on a temporary basis as a form of retaliation for foreign moves against Russian companies abroad. This latest action seems to be in line with that warning.
In October of last year, Danone had already announced its intention to find a buyer for its dairy food business in Russia. This deal could potentially result in a write-off of up to 1 billion euros ($1.12 billion). However, it seems that the Russian government’s intervention has now complicated the situation.
The decree also stated that Carlsberg’s stake in Russian-based Baltika Breweries has been placed under state management. Carlsberg had previously announced in June that it had signed an agreement to sell its Russian business, pending regulatory approvals.
As of now, both Danone and Carlsberg have not provided any immediate comments on the matter.
(Reporting by Caleb Davis and Darya Korsunskaya; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
($1 = 1.1227 euros)
[Image: Danone and Carlsberg logo]
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