Food giant Danone has confirmed the finalisation of its divestment in Russia, a market it had entered in 1992.
The French corporation had indicated in late March that it had received the regulatory permissions it needed to sell its subsidiary in Russia to a businessman associated with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, following a loss of control over the entity.
The sale of its dairy and plant-based products (EDP) to Vamin R LLC, a Russian dairy company owned by Mintimer Mingazov, reportedly linked to Kadyrov, was initially scheduled “in the coming weeks.”
On Friday, Danone announced that it had executed the sale after obtaining necessary Russian regulatory permissions. However, financial details of the deal remained undisclosed.
Following Russia’s military aggression in Ukraine on 24 February 2022 and economic sanctions imposed by Western nations, many multinational corporations chose to pull out of Russia, while others suspended their operations in the oil, automotive, and luxury sectors.
Danone kicked off the process of transferring its operations more than seven months after the invasion. It had been one of the pioneering multinational corporations to venture into Russia in August 1992, soon after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Dairy products such as milk and yoghurt were marketed in Russia under the Danone, Danissimo, and Prostokvashino brands.
In 2010, the group acquired 57.5% of Russia’s second-largest dairy products company, Unimilk, representing a 21% market share and 25 factories.
Russia accounted for about 5% of Danone’s global sales.
