According to a law signed by Vladimir Putin on sunday, Moscow has taken over the Russian subsidiaries for Carlsberg and Danone.
According to the decree, Russia has taken over the “temporary management” of the Russian companies owned both by the French food group as well as the largest Russian beer producer.
This is the first time since April, when Russia seized Fortum in Finland and Uniper in Germany.
The Kremlin didn’t provide any further details Sunday, but it has described similar moves in the past as a reaction to Western confiscations of Russian assets.
A decree issued in April allowed the government to seize the assets of foreign companies deemed hostile by the Kremlin to “protect Russian interests and property”. According to the Carlsberg site, Baltika is based in St Petersburg and produces some of Russia’s most recognisable beers. It has 8400 employees in eight plants.
Carlsberg announced in March of last year that it was “seeking a complete disposal of our Russian business” shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine on a large scale.
It announced late last month that it had found an investor for Baltika. To complete the deal, the company applied to the Kremlin-created regulatory commission to oversee western corporate exits.
No one could immediately reach the company for comment.
Companies from “unfriendly countries” can only sell Russian assets at a maximum half of their value. They must also make a voluntary contribution of 5-10% of the sale price to Russia’s war fund. In the energy and finance sectors, deals require the approval of both the government and Putin himself.
The assets seized by the decree launched in April will be under the control and management of the federal state asset agency. Only Putin can revert the external control.
Danone is the largest dairy company in Russia. The company has announced its plans to sell Russian assets in the past, stating that this could result in a write off of up to €1bn. It had not announced yet that it had found an investor.
The company stated that it was “currently investigating” the situation and “preparing to take any necessary measures to protect shareholder rights”. . . “.
A person familiar with the matter said that the decision by the Russian government was a complete shock, as it had been so close to finalizing the deal. The person who spoke to us said, “We wonder if there is a diplomat dimension to this because of France’s support for Ukraine.”
Dmitry Peskov is a Putin spokesperson who said that western investors were “more welcome” in Russia. He also added that “if an organization does not fulfill its obligations then, it will be placed in the category of unruly companies. . . We bid these companies goodbye. “What we do with the assets of those companies is our business.”
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