The world number two in the beer industry, Heineken, has announced its intention to leave Russia because of the war in Ukraine. According to the group founded in the 19th century in Amsterdam, which produces and sells more than 300 brands of beer and cider in the world, the activity in the country is “no longer viable in the current environment”.
“We are aiming for an orderly transfer of our company to a new owner in full compliance with international and local laws,” said Heineken, which had already announced on March 9 the cessation of the production and sale of its drinks and not to no longer accept any profit from its activities in this country. The group has guaranteed payment of the salaries of its 1,800 employees in Russia until the end of 2022.
“The difficult and immediate decision to aim for a complete sale of our activities in Russia”
But the brewer has stressed that it will not benefit from a transfer of ownership. He predicts that the transaction will cost him 400 million euros due to the loss of value of their asset and other “exceptional charges”. “We continue to hope that a path to a peaceful outcome will emerge in the short term,” Heineken stressed, however. At the start of the afternoon, the Danish Carlsberg followed in the footsteps of its competitor by announcing its withdrawal from Russia, one of its main markets, as well as the sale of its important activities in the country, which have 8,400 employees. .
“We have made the difficult and immediate decision to aim for a complete sale of our Russian business, which we believe is the right thing to do in the current environment. Once finalized, we will no longer have a presence in Russia”, explains the group in a press release, a few hours after a similar decision by its competitor Heineken.
Hundreds of international companies and groups have announced in recent weeks, some under pressure, the suspension of their activities in Russia or their gradual withdrawal from the country due to the invasion of Ukraine. Last week, President Zelensky, in a message to the French Parliament, had urged French companies established in Russia to stop supporting the Russian “war machine” and to leave this country, citing Renault, Auchan and Leroy Merlin. For its part, Auchan, which employs 30,000 people in Russia, has announced that it will maintain its activities in the country, citing in particular the need to support the purchasing power of Russians.