Putin seizes control of Nestlé and Auchan’s Russian assets, hands them to company with $177 capital
Russian President Vladimir Putin has seized control of the Russian assets of Swiss food giant Nestlé and French supermarket chain Auchan, placing them under temporary administration by a little-known company with registered capital of just 15,000 rubles ($177).
Putin issued a decree late Thursday transferring stakes in the companies’ Russian businesses to AO L.E.V. Menedzhment, Bloomberg reported.
The Moscow-based company was registered in 2024, officially has a single employee and had little public profile before Putin’s decree. Bloomberg described the move as Russia’s largest takeover of foreign corporate assets since at least 2024.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov linked the decision to European military support for Ukraine.
“We are talking about companies, European companies from unfriendly countries,” Peskov said. “One of the factors taken into account when making this decision was that this is an unfriendly country, and that this is an unfriendly country that is currently most actively involved in military actions against our country.”
Russia has used its temporary management mechanism to take control of dozens of foreign-owned assets since 2023, including the Russian businesses of Finnish energy company Fortum, French food producer Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg.
Temporary administration has in some cases been followed by a change of ownership. Danone and Carlsberg briefly regained control of their assets before being required to sell them to Russian companies at steep discounts.
Nestlé said it had taken note of Putin’s decree and was assessing the situation and its options.
“Nestlé is committed to taking all necessary steps to protect its rights and ensure continuity of business operations in the interests of all stakeholders, particularly its employees,” the company said.
Auchan Retail Russia said it had requested clarification of the decree and would respond in more detail once it received further information.
Russia accounts for about 2% of Nestlé’s global sales, equivalent to roughly 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.5 billion) annually. The company operates six plants in Russia and employs more than 7,000 people.
Analysts at Jefferies estimated that losing control of its Russian assets could result in a write-off of about 1 billion Swiss francs for Nestlé. Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman described the decree as “a step towards a potential ownership change,” while noting that the timing, process and possible compensation remain unclear.