State manages holdings
Russia takes over businesses from Danone and Carlsberg
7/16/2023, 7:04 p.m
Putin orders government agencies to take over Danone and Carlsberg’s Russian businesses. Both companies had already announced that they would be abandoning their activities in the country.
Russia puts the Russian business of the French food manufacturer Danone and the Danish brewery group Carlsberg under state administration. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree under which a government agency would take control of Danone’s stake and Carlsberg’s stake in Russia’s largest brewing group.
The Baltika Group, in which Carlsberg recently held a 27 percent stake, recently also brewed foreign brands such as Warsteiner, Holsten and Tuborg under license. Carlsberg announced in June that it would sell the block of shares to an unnamed buyer, but this requires approvals. Carlsberg is one of the largest brewery groups in the world. At the end of March 2022 – one month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine – the company announced that it wanted to withdraw completely from Russia and sell its business there.
Danone announced a withdrawal from Russia in October, which could lead to write-downs of up to one billion euros. No comments were initially available from Danone and Carlsberg.
In a step similar to the decree now signed by Putin, Russia placed the national companies of the energy companies Uniper from Germany and Fortum from Finland under state control in April.
Since Russia attacked Ukraine last year, numerous Western corporations have withdrawn from Russia. In connection with a possible or completed closure of the respective business, high write-downs were often associated.