On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russia had imposed temporary external control over the assets of Nestle and Auchan in response to military assistance from their countries to Ukraine and attacks on Russian infrastructure.
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“These are European companies from unfriendly countries. And, naturally, one of the factors considered when approving this decision was that it is an unfriendly country and that it is actively involved in military actions against our country,” he said.
“These are countries that are involved in the attacks carried out by the Kiev regime against our critical civilian infrastructure. For now, no other decisions have been made,” Peskov said when asked whether the assets would be transferred or sold to the company that will be in charge of them.
On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree authorizing the Russian company L.E.V. Management, which has operated in the consulting and management sector since 2024, to take temporary control of the assets of Nestle and the Auchan subsidiary.
Nestle is a multinational company based in Vevey, Switzerland. It is the world’s largest food and beverage company and operates in 185 countries. The company is known for its diverse portfolio of more than 2,000 brands spanning baby food, coffee, chocolate, bottled water, and pet food.
Auchan is a French multinational retail group headquartered in Croix, France. It operates more than 2,800 points of sale across 17 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa. Its business model includes hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores and e-commerce platforms. In Russia, Auchan operates under the brand Ашан.
Since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russian authorities have placed the assets of a number of foreign companies under temporary state management after they left the Russian market and their countries imposed sanctions on Russia.
Previously, the Russian government made a similar decision regarding the shares of the Le Monlid retail chain, which previously operated under the Leroy Merlin brand.
teleSUR/ JF
Sources: EFE – X
Source: teleSUR
