Putin placed the Russian operations of Nestlé, Auchan, and Leroy Merlin under temporary administration
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin signed a decree placing the Russian assets of a number of Western companies under temporary administration. The list includes 100% of “Auchan” LLC, two Russian subsidiaries of Nestlé—“Nestlé Russia” and “Nestlé Kuban”—as well as Le Monlid LLC, which owns the “Lemana Pro” chain (formerly Leroy Merlin).
In addition, three companies belonging to the French logistics operator FM Logistic, eight legal entities of Batilogistic, and “Enzhe Stroy” LLC were placed under administration. JSC “L.E.V. Management” was appointed as the temporary administrator of all these assets.
The decree also applies to both ownership stakes in “Lemana Pro,” 99.99% of which formally transferred to Scenari Holding LP of the UAE at the end of 2023.
The temporary administration mechanism has been in effect since April 2023, stripping foreign owners of control over the business and granting the administrator the powers of an owner, as previously occurred with Danone and “Baltika.” The new administrator—JSC “L.E.V. Management”—shows signs of being a shell company; it is classified as a microenterprise with a charter capital of 15,000 rubles and was previously listed for sale as a legal entity with no revenue and no open bank account.
This is reported in an article by The Bell.
As a reminder, Putin signed a decree under which the shares of foreign shareholders in the “Baltika” brewing company and the Danone Group were transferred “to temporary management” by the Federal Agency for State Property Management of the Russian Federation. According to an investigation by the Explainer project, following the de facto nationalization of the company, Danone was taken over by Yakub Zakriev, the nephew of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, and Ruslan Alisultanov, a former aide to Kadyrov.
