Foreign company assets seized by Putin are funding the Russian army: details
фото: Reuters
Russian units of foreign companies, over which the Kremlin has transferred control to local leaders, are funneling billions of rubles to support the Russian military. The funds, in particular, go to the organization “Popular Front”, which purchases drones, vehicles, communications equipment and other equipment for the Russian military.
This is reported by Bloomberg .
According to journalists, gathered from statements by companies, charitable foundations and Russian media, after the transfer of enterprises under temporary management to local leaders, they began to finance the needs of the Russian army. Most of the funds are directed to the “Popular Front” – an organization created at the initiative of Vladimir Putin in 2011. After the start of the full-scale invasion, it launched the project “Everything for Victory!”
In 2023, Russia created a mechanism for transferring operational control over enterprises of companies from so-called unfriendly countries to the state. At the same time, foreign parent companies remain the formal owners of the assets.
One example is the Russian unit of Danish insulation manufacturer Rockwool. In December, Putin placed it under temporary management of a Moscow company that had been set up a few months earlier. The company later transferred 600 million rubles to the Popular Front. The money was intended to purchase all-terrain vehicles, communications equipment, reconnaissance drones, and electronic warfare systems.
Later, the head of this company, Timur Amirov, gained control of the Russian enterprises of the Dutch paint manufacturer AkzoNobel and the Italian company DKC Europe. According to charitable organizations and Russian media, they together directed 3 billion rubles to purchase equipment for the Russian military.
“We have completely lost the ability to track the activities of Russian companies. We read about this story in the media,” said a representative of AkzoNobel.
The brewing company AB InBev Efes, a joint venture between the Belgian Anheuser-Busch InBev and the Turkish Anadolu Efes, announced the transfer of 1 billion rubles to the “Popular Front” in 2026. In 2024, the company’s Russian division was transferred to the management of the local company GK Vmeste.
The Russian business of the German retail chain Metro AG, after being transferred to local management, also promised to transfer 1 billion rubles to the “Popular Front.” This was reported last month.
Support for the Russian military is not limited to monetary contributions. The Baltika brewery, formerly owned by the Danish Carlsberg, produces a non-alcoholic fortified energy drink “For the Armed Forces” for the military. According to the company, it is supplied exclusively to the front and distributed free of charge to servicemen.
The transfer of foreign assets under Russian control is also being used by the Kremlin as a pressure tool in response to the freezing of Russian assets in the West after the start of a full-scale war in 2022.
In October, Putin said that temporarily transferring foreign companies to Russian management should deter possible Western moves against Russian assets. At the same time, the Kremlin does not rule out returning the companies to foreign owners if Western countries return Russian assets.
Since September, the Russian authorities have stepped up the transfer of foreign companies under state control. Among the latest cases, journalists cite Nestlé’s Russian assets and local units of Japan Tobacco.
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