Photo: Collected
Russian President Vladimir Putin singed a decree reversing the decision to transfer the Russian assets of French food giant Danone under the temporary control of the Russian government.
The decree was published on the governmental webportal of legal acts on Wednesday (13 March).
On February 20, the Financial Times newspaper reported that Danone was planning to sell its Russian subsidiary, rebranded as Health&Nutrition, to Russian dairy company Vamin Tatarstan for 17.7 billion rubles ($193.8 million). Health&Nutrition did not provide any comment on the information to Sputnik.
In July 2023, Putin signed a decree transferring control over Danone Russia and Baltika, the local subsidiary unit of Danish brewery group Carlsberg, to Russia's Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimushchestvo).
Danone has been present in Russia since 1992. Its Russian business unit owns a number of plants located in several regions of Russia and employs at least 7,200 people.
Danone's Russian businesses accounted for 6% of its total sales before 2022, French media reported, adding that their total value was estimated at 250 million euros.
In October 2022, the food corporation said that it intended to exit the country due to Russia's military operation in Ukraine, sell most businesses in Russia, and take a write-off of up to 1 billion euros.
In 2023, Danone’s net profit fell by 8% to 881 million euros compared to the previous year.
Messenger/Mumu
