If the Kremlin’s election campaign rests on the exaltation of the war in Ukraine and the related confrontation with the West that supports it, while Russia votes, the offensive against Europe foresees no truce. The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, in fact linked the decision to take control of the Russian properties of two European groups – the Swiss Nestlé and the French Auchan – to the active involvement of a “hostile country,” France, in “military actions against our country.” Regarding its role, the spokesman specified, “in the attacks carried out by Kyiv against Russian civilian economic infrastructure.”
Read more Salvini at the Pontida test relaunches on pensions and security
Ask the Sun
The questions are automatically suggested by 24Ore AI
based on the content displayed.
A move ordered in presidential decree no. 661, signed by Vladimir Putin on September 17 and also concerning the Lemano Pro group – formerly Leroy Merlin, transferred in 2023 from the Mulliez family, owners of Auchan, to Scenari Holding registered in the United Arab Emirates – and the French Fm Logistic. The decree derives from a previous ukaz of April 2023, no. 302, in which Putin authorized the temporary administration of Russian properties of companies or citizens of hostile countries “in cases of removal or risks of confiscation of Russian properties abroad, or threats to the country’s security.”
Rejecting accusations of nationalization, Russian authorities speak of “temporary administration,” without implying a transfer of ownership: in all cases listed in the decree, management is entrusted to a semi-unknown entity named L.E.V. Management. Registered in Moscow in October 2024, share capital 15,000 rubles (155 euros), ownership unknown: but a week before the decree’s signing, writes the independent economic site The Bell, a certain Andrey Krajushkin became its CEO. The same name corresponds to a deputy head of the First Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for migration issues, with the rank of police major general. The birth dates of the new CEO and the general, as verified by Novaja Gazeta Evropa, coincide.
Read more Barilla invests one hundred million in the South, new pasta hub in Foggia
The precedents
Peskov specified that on the next steps “no decision has yet been made.” But in previous transfers of foreign assets into Russian hands, in 2023, for the French Danone and the Danish Carlsberg, the external temporary administration was only a first stage, followed by the transfer by the state to investors favored by the Kremlin, at preferential prices. Danone, in particular, ended up in the hands of the family of Ramzan Kadyrov, the strongman in charge of Chechnya. His nephew Yakub Zakuriev, deputy prime minister and minister of Agriculture, took over the company’s management. Carlsberg Baltika, instead, passed to Taimuraz Bollojev, an entrepreneur of Ossetian origin described as very close to Putin.
In response to the president’s decree, Nestlé declared yesterday that it is ready to take “all necessary steps to protect its rights and ensure the continuity of operations in the interest of shareholders and especially its employees.” By the end of the day, the group had lost 2.3% in Zurich.
Read more Trump declares war on CNN: “Banned from the White House”
