Moscow has taken control of the assets in Russia of the multinationals Danone (France) and Carlsberg (Denmark), after both business groups announced their intention to leave the Russian market after the offensive in Ukraine.
According to a decree signed this Sunday by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and published on the country's official legal portal, 98.56% of the shares of the Russian brewery Baltika, belonging to Carlsberg, and tens of thousands of shares belonging to a Russian subsidiary of Danone "become temporarily under state control".
The fine print of the decree details that, in total, there are 83,292,493,000 shares owned by the Produits Laitiers Frais Est Europe group, as well as another 85,000 shares belonging to the Comercio-Danone group.
Danone markets milk and yoghurts in Russia under the Danone, Danissimo or Prostokvashino brands. In 2010, the group had bought 57.5% of the number two Russian dairy, Unimilk (21% market share and 25 factories).
We must go back to last June when the Danish brewery Carlsberg announced that it had found a buyer -who was never named- to carry out its activities in Russia after the announcement by the French company that it was giving up its business on Russian soil after the offensive ordered by Putin in Ukraine.
Similarly, according to information published on the Baltika beers website, the company has about 9,500 employees and is one of the largest corporations in the country. Its products are exported to 79 countries.
Since Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24, and the first economic sanctions decreed by the West were confirmed, many multinationals have left Russia, others have suspended their activities there, in the oil, automobile or luxury sectors.
