Russian State Seizes Control Of Carlsberg-Owned Breweries

More than a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, an action that has killed tens of thousands on both sides, the state has seized control of Carlsberg-owned breweries, that the Danish multinational brewer had been trying to sell.

Here’s the deal…

On February 24th 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War which began in 2014. That action led many international breweries to sell their operations and exit the authoritarian state.

Anheuser-Busch was able to sell its joint stake with Turkish brewer Anadolu Efe and successfully exit the country. Heineken announced plans to sell off its Russia business after a strategic review concluded it was “no longer sustainable nor viable in the current environment,” and they got out as well.

Like Anheuser-Busch and Heineken, Carlsberg had pledged to cut ties with Russia, but in spite of its announced plans to exit the country by the end of last year, the process of separating operations in Russia from the rest of its business was challenging.

But at the end of June the Danish brewing giant announced that it had signed an agreement to sell its business in Russia, more than a year later than the company had planned.

“The signing of an agreement to sell the Russian business is a very important milestone in the highly complex separation and selling process,” Group CEO Cees’t Hart said at that time. “While it has been an extensive process, it has been important for us to reach the best possible solution for all stakeholders, including our more than 8,000 employees in Russia. We now look forward to receiving the necessary regulatory approvals.”

But it appears that those .regulatory approvals’ won’t be forthcoming because the Russian state has taken control of both Baltika Breweries, which brews Carlsberg in that country.

According to the fresh Putin-backed presidential decree, foreign-owned stakes in Danone Russia and Baltika Breweries were being put under the temporary management of the Russian government property agency Rosimushchestvo.

The Copenhagen-headquartered Carlsberg Group has now announced that following the presidential decree, “the prospects for this sales process are now highly uncertain.”

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