The state manages holdings: Russia acquires companies from Danone and Carlsberg

The state manages the holdings
Russia takes over business from Danone and Carlsberg

7/16/2023 at 7:04 PM

Putin orders government agencies to take over the Russian businesses of Danone and Carlsberg. Both companies have already announced that they will discontinue their activities in the country.

Russia puts the Russian business of the French food company Danone and the Danish brewery group Carlsberg under state administration. President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree according to which a state agency will take control of Danone’s and Carlsberg’s stakes in Russia’s largest brewing group.

The Baltika Group, in which Carlsberg recently owns a 27 percent stake, has recently been brewing 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 that would require approvals. Carlsberg is one of the largest groups of breweries in the world. At the end of March 2022 — one month after the Russian invasion of Ukraine — the company announced that it wanted to completely withdraw from Russia and sell its business there.

Danone announced its withdrawal from Russia in October, which could result in a writedown of up to €1 billion. No comments were initially available from Danone and Carlsberg.

In a move similar to the decree now signed by Putin, Russia brought the national energy companies Uniper of Germany and Fortum of Finland under state control in April.

Since Russia attacked Ukraine last year, many Western companies have pulled out of Russia. In connection with the potential or complete closure of the business in question, high write-offs have often been associated.