At the beginning of the week, Vladimir Putin, by decree, placed the Russian division of the German company "Metro" under temporary control. Thus, the wholesale and retail stores followed the fate of the plant of the American concern "Aptar", the French chain "Ochan" and the Russian representative office of the Swiss company "Nestle".
All of them did not leave Russia along with other Western companies after the start of the war in Ukraine, but in the last month they were placed under control by the authorities because they are owned by "hostile states", which, according to Moscow, are participating in the war in Ukraine by helping Kiev.
The company distances itself from its former director in Russia
The assets of "Metro" were transferred to the company JSC UK Torg Rus, which, according to Russian media, belongs to Johannes Tolli, the previous CEO of "Metro" for Russia. The holding company's headquarters in Düsseldorf reacted and announced that Tolli is no longer its employee.
The temporary transfer could also lead to state expropriation without compensation, explains ARD. The parent company no longer has access to the operational activities, a spokeswoman for "Metro" confirmed. Formally, it belongs to the Russian manager of the local subsidiary. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that it was precisely relations with "hostile countries" that were behind the decision, and that it could be canceled if the situation changed.
"Metro" did not leave Russia, which is a key market for the company
"Metro" entered the Russian market in 2001, and today there are 91 large stores in the country. About 9,000 people work in them. According to the company, this is the reason why it did not move out of Russia after the start of the aggressive war in February 2022, when many European companies left the country. "We are responsible both to our 10,000 employees on site and to our customers who purchase food products from "Metro Russia", the German company said at the time. "In addition, "Metro Russia" is a large business that is important for the entire portfolio of the concern," and the decision was also made in the interests of shareholders, ARD points out.
Russia is an extremely important market for the company, with turnover there reaching 2.14 billion euros in the first nine months of this year alone, which is about 8.7% of the holding's total turnover.