Carlsberg hit Russia. It's already responding
Carlsberg Group has revoked Baltica's license, without which Russian breweries cannot sell beers on the domestic market or export them. The Russian newspaper "Kommersant" reports that Baltica will go to court to fight the cancellation of the conglomerate's decision.
5:28 AM EDT, October 21, 2023
The Baltica brewing company has filed a lawsuit with the Arbitration Court in Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Region to annul the decision of the Carslberg concern to revoke Baltica's license allowing the production and sale of the Danish company's products.
The journal reports that the preliminary hearing is scheduled for November 15th. Baltica does not comment on the lawsuit, and the Danish office of the Carlsberg Group did not give a statement to "Kommiersant".
The journal reminds that Baltica is part of the Carlsberg group, but since July of this year, by decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the company has been under the temporary management of the Federal Property Management Agency.
Carlsberg disagreed with this decision and considered it an illegal takeover of property.
Therefore, Carlsberg Group has withdrawn Baltic licenses allowing the production and sale of Danish company products.
The Kremlin is taking over the assets of foreign corporations
In July, the Kremlin decided to seize the Russian assets of Carlsberg and Danone.
In 2022, Danone generated revenues of $3 billion on the Russian market, as calculated by the Kiev School of Economics. Taimuraz Bolloev, a long-time friend of Putin, is set to take over control of the Russian subsidiary.
Last year, Carlsberg recorded $1.6 billion in revenue in Russia. According to KSE, its Russian subsidiary Baltica is to be handed over to Jakub Zakriev, the nephew of Ramzan Kadyrov.
Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has repeatedly threatened to take control of Western companies operating in the country. According to "The Moscow Times", the most drastic measures to date have been the takeover of the local assets of Finnish Fortum and German Uniper at the beginning of the year.
