Carlsberg loses contact with Russian employees after confiscation of Kremlin assets

Carlsberg CEO Sis t Hart says the company was shocked by Russia's decision to take control of its subsidiary. Photo: Carsten Sneibjerg/Bloomberg

Carlsberg has lost contact with employees in Russia after its brewery was taken over by the Kremlin, the beverage maker said.

Sys t Hart, chief executive of Carlsberg, said on Tuesday that The Danish company was shocked by Russia's decision to take control of its Baltika subsidiary last month.

The brewer made a deal to sell a business that employs about 8,400 people in the country, but he was arrested in accordance with a presidential decree signed by Vladimir Putin.

Mr 't Hart said that there are «no signs» of him. why the Russian state took over the business, adding that Carlsberg has «limited contacts» with local authorities.

Carlsberg still technically owns the business, but has no control over it.

< p> “In June we were delighted to announce the sale of the Russian business,” said Mr. Hart.

“However, shortly thereafter, we were shocked that, by presidential decree, the management of the business was temporarily transferred to a Russian federal agency.”

Mr. Putin gave the Russian state new powers to seize assets from Western companies in response to the war in Ukraine raging.

Mr t'Hart added: “We knew from the very beginning, from the moment we announced our intention to leave Russia in March last year, that people inside Russia were showing great interest in this business. But still, this is an unprecedented case.”

Dmitry Peskov, Putin's spokesman, told the Financial Times in June: «If a company does not fulfill its obligations, then, of course, it goes into the category of naughty companies. We say goodbye to these companies. And what we do with their assets after that is our business.”

Many well-known companies continue to do business in Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, despite criticism.

< p > Marmite and Dove owner Unilever was named an «international war sponsor» by the Ukrainian government last month for continuing to sell products in Russia.

Beverage giant Bacardi has also joined Ukraine's National Corruption Prevention Agency. (NACP) list of alleged war sponsors this week for also failing to stop operations.

As Carlsberg reported Wednesday, organic revenues worldwide rose 11.2% in the six months to June. 30 – although the volume of beer sold grew by less than 1%.