French retailer Auchan, which continued its business in Russia after the outbreak of war in Ukraine, unlike many other groups, “seems to be contributing to the Russian war effort”, writes Le Monde on Friday, its management saying ” very surprised” by these allegations. “We are very surprised,” reacted to AFP the management of the group, owned by the Mulliez Family Association (AFM) based in the north of France. “We are in the process of verifying the asserted elements, but, to date, the elements in our possession do not corroborate” the investigation of the World, she continues.
According to documents obtained by the first French daily, the investigation site The Insider and the NGO Bellingcat, a collection of products intended for Vladimir Putin’s army, worth a total of 2 million rubles (around 25,000 euros ), was organized within the local Auchan subsidiary. The investigation cites an anonymous source who said that this load would have been offered free of charge by Auchan.
“thousands of cigarettes, wool socks size 43 or 44…”
According to Le Monde, a management controller, Natalya Z., had drawn up a list of equipment on March 15, 2022 in an email sent “to about twenty employees in several stores in Saint Petersburg, in western Russia, for the purpose of ‘collecting humanitarian aid donations'”. It included “thousands of cigarettes, size 43 or 44 wool socks, gas stove cartridges, canned pork stew, axes and nails, all from the brand’s stock”, continues the daily.
The group’s management notes that “the only elements provided date from March 2022”, i.e. a few weeks after the outbreak of the conflict, and that in this case “the interlocutors who placed an order were usual interlocutors, who had already placed an order with us beforehand “. “We do not finance and participate voluntarily and actively in any collection intended for the Russian forces”, continues the management.
Auchan recorded a drop in its commercial activity in Russia
The 5th largest food retailer in France in terms of market share (behind E.Leclerc, Carrefour, Intermarché and Système U) had a long-standing presence in Ukraine and Russia, where before the war it achieved a tenth of its total sales. Another sign from the Mulliez galaxy, Leroy Merlin, is also very present there, to the point of dominating the DIY market in Russia.
When publishing its results for the first half of 2022, in August, Auchan indicated that it had recorded a “marked slowdown” in its commercial activity in Russia, assuring that this activity is carried out there “in maximum autonomy and in strict compliance with the European embargo”.