Putin seizes control of Danone and Carlsberg’s shares in Russia

telegraph: Russia has taken control of shares belonging to French yoghurt-maker Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg as Vladimir Putin seeks to fund his illegal war in Ukraine.

The Russian state will “temporarily” manage shares belonging to Danone Russia and to Baltika, which is owned by Carlsberg, under a presidential decree aimed at companies from “unfriendly” countries, which is signed by Putin.

Danone said it was investigating the situation and “preparing to take all necessary measures to protect its rights as a shareholder of Danone Russia, and the continuity of the operations of the business in the interest of all stakeholders, in particular its employees”.

The company was one of the few Western businesses to remain in Russia following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. It defended its decision in March last year saying it has “a responsibility to the people we feed”.

Baltika is a leading brewing company in Russia, with approximately 30pc of the market share. Carlsberg announced in March that it would sell the entirety of its activities in Russia, where it employed 8,400 people.

Last month the multinational brewer said it had found an unnamed buyer for the business, more than a year after announcing its exit from the market due to the conflict in Ukraine.

Carlsberg said in a statement: “Following the presidential decree, the prospects for this sales process are now highly uncertain.

“The Carlsberg Group has not received any official information from the Russian authorities regarding the presidential decree or the consequences for Baltika Breweries.”

One of few multinationals to have remained in Russia since the Ukraine offensive began, Danone said in October that it planned to withdraw from most of its business. Danone then said it would give up the dairy and plant-based business in Russia, retaining only its infant nutrition branch.

The move could result in a write-off of up to €1bn (£860m), it said.

Danone is viewed as one of the consumer goods companies most exposed to Russia, where it sells yoghurt and other dairy products and has about 8,000 staff.

Talking about its decision to stay in Russia last year, chief executive Antoine de Saint-Affrique said it was “very easy to get drawn into black-and-white thinking and demagogic positions, but in the end our reputation is about our behaviour”.

A large number of major Western companies have pulled out of Russia since Moscow launched its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.