2023-07-16 23:03:21
A questionable sale
At the end of June, the Danish brewer Carlsberg announced that it had found a buyer, without naming him, for its activities in Russia, more than a year following announcing its withdrawal from the country following the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
The group announced at the end of March 2022 the sale of its important activities in Russia, where it has 8,400 employees and has owned the Russian brand Baltika since 2000. “Following the presidential decree, the prospects for this sale process are now highly uncertain,” Carlsberg acknowledged in a statement on Sunday. The Danish brewer said it was not informed by the Russian authorities of the presidential decree.
Read also: Western companies continue to operate in Russia
A surprise for Danone
Danone, for its part, indicated on Sunday evening that it had “taken note of the decree of the Russian authorities which aims to place Danone Russia under temporary external administration” and “is currently studying the situation”.
In mid-October 2022, the French agrifood giant announced its intention to withdraw from most of its activities in Russia. The group, which had initially assumed its presence in Russia to meet “the essential food needs of civilian populations”, had said it planned to cede control of its “dairy and vegetable products” branch, retaining only that of nutrition infant.
The transfer of control process “was progressing in accordance with the planned schedule”, according to Danone which, in a press release, also affirmed that it was preparing “to take all the necessary measures to protect its rights as a shareholder of Danone Russia, and to ensure the continuity of the company’s operations in the interest of all stakeholders, and in particular its employees”.
In October, the French giant had clarified that the withdrawal operation might “lead to a depreciation of up to 1 billion euros” in its accounts. But on Sunday, he assured that the Russian decision announced earlier will have “no impact on Danone’s financial objectives for the year 2023”.
From a source familiar with the matter, Moscow’s announcement surprised the company, while negotiations for a transfer seemed close to success. It came days following French President Emmanuel Macron gave the go-ahead for the delivery of long-range SCALP missiles to Ukraine, which the Kremlin called a “mistaken decision”.
Activities suspended since the war in Ukraine
Since the attack on Ukraine by Russia on February 24, 2022 and the first economic sanctions decreed by the West, many multinationals have left Russia and others have suspended their activities there, in the oil, automobile or even luxury.
In May, Moscow had already taken “temporary” forced control of the Russian subsidiary of the Finnish energy group Fortum, with the ousting of its CEO in Russia.
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