Kremlin Seizes Metro Retail Assets and Places Them Under Russian Management

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has issued a decree transferring the Russian assets of international wholesale retailer Metro into the temporary management of Torg RUS Management Company JSC, as reported by The Moscow Times on September 28.

According to the Spark database, Torg RUS was registered on September 8 and is fully owned by Johannes Maria Tolay, the current general manager of Metro Cash & Carry LLC.

"One of the factors taken into account when making this decision was that this is an unfriendly country," presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated, according to The Moscow Times.

Since March 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than one thousand companies have exited the Russian market by selling or transferring management to local managers.

Dozens of foreign-owned enterprises have been placed under temporary management under a spring 2023 presidential decree enacted as a response to the seizure of Russian assets abroad and actions taken by the US and its allies.

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On September 17, Russia placed the local operations of Swiss food giant Nestlé and French supermarket chain Auchan under temporary administration, connecting the decision directly to European military aid for Ukraine.

According to registry data reported by Bloomberg, Vladimir Putin issued a decree transferring stakes in both firms to AO L.E.V. Menedzhment, a Moscow-registered entity created in 2024 with a charter capital of approximately $177 and just a single employee.

In response to the takeover, Nestlé announced it was weighing its options and pledged to take all necessary measures to safeguard its legal rights and support its workforce, while Auchan Retail Russia requested official clarification on the order.

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