Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin has signed a decree nationalising the Russian assets of Auchan, Nestlé and the former Leroy Merlin chain.
Ukrainska Pravda reports this.
The decree, signed on 17 September, states that the assets of the international corporations Auchan and Nestlé are being forcibly transferred to the management of the joint-stock company "L.E.V. Management".
The same entity has also taken control of the assets of the logistics operators FM Logistics, Bati Logistics and LLC "Le Monlid" (the former "Leroy Merlin" chain).
"L.E.V. Management" was registered in Moscow in October 2024. The company’s chief executive is listed as Andrii Kraiushkin, but information about its real beneficial owners has not been disclosed, and the company has not carried out any commercial activity.
The Swiss company Nestlé has operated in Russia since 1994 and owns six large production sites in different regions of the country. The combined revenue of its main legal entities in Russia in 2021 amounted to almost 30 billion roubles. Data for subsequent years, after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has been classified by the company.
The French retail chain Auchan has operated in Russia since 2002 and currently has 230 stores in 100 cities. LLC "Ashan" is almost entirely owned by the French company Sogepar.
The French company Leroy Merlin, which operated on the Russian market from 2004, changed its name to "Lemana PRO" and ran a network of 112 stores and 11 dark stores. In December 2023, a company from the United Arab Emirates, Scenari Holding LP, became the owner of 99.99% of the Russian legal entity LLC "Le Monlid". The French group Adeo formally retained only 0.007% of the shares.
- In 2024, the French hypermarket chain "Ashan" decided to leave the Russian market. It was reported that the company had already found a buyer for its Russian business and was at the final stage of negotiations.
- Before that, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention added the corporation "Ashan" to the list of international sponsors of the war. It then became known that "Ashan" had supplied goods free of charge to the Russian army in the occupied Ukrainian territories.
- At the same time, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) added the Swiss corporation Nestlé to the list of international sponsors of the war. As of the beginning of 2022, the Swiss company had seven factories in Russia.