After Seizing Western Assets, Russia Puts Chechen Official, Local in charge
Russia has appointed Chechnya’s agriculture minister as the new head of Danone’s business in the country and tapped a Russian businessman to run Carlsberg’s operations there, cementing control of the Western multinationals’ Russian assets days after they were seized. President Vladimir Putin on Sunday signed a decree that effectively placed the local operations of the French food company and Danish brewing giant under government management. Russia’s unexpected seizure of assets belonging to two of the world’s largest consumer-goods companies marked an escalation in economic hostilities with the West amid the war in Ukraine.
The appointment of Yakub Zakriev, who is also Chechnya’s deputy prime minister, as head of Danone’s Russian business was reported late Tuesday by state news agency TASS. A Russian company database also named Zakriev as head of the company. Zakriev is the nephew of Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader and an ally of Putin.
Meanwhile, Baltika Breweries, Carlsberg’s Russian business, confirmed the appointment of Taimuraz Bolloev as its new manager. Bolloev previously ran the company for more than a decade, having founded it in 1990. By the time he resigned in 2004, Baltika had become Russia’s leading brewer.
Carlsberg then acquired it in 2008. Bolloev is also chairman of Russian clothing company BTK Group, a supplier of the Russian army, and a former head of the state company tasked with building facilities for the 2014 Winter Olympics held in the resort city of Sochi. Carlsberg said Wednesday that it no longer retains control of Baltika’s management or operations.
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