{"id":1325,"date":"2026-09-18T16:12:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/18\/nestle-weighing-all-options-after-kremlin-moves-to-seize-russia-business\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T16:12:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:12:34","slug":"nestle-weighing-all-options-after-kremlin-moves-to-seize-russia-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/2026\/09\/18\/nestle-weighing-all-options-after-kremlin-moves-to-seize-russia-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Nestle weighing all options after Kremlin moves to seize Russia business"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By John Revill <\/p>\n

ZURICH, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Nestle said on Friday it was weighing all options to protect its rights after the Kremlin’s decision to take control of the Swiss food maker’s Russian business, the latest move against a Western company since the \u200cwar in Ukraine began. <\/p>\n

The maker of Nescafe coffee and KitKat chocolates said it took note of the decision, announced in a presidential \u200cdecree on Thursday, and was assessing the situation. <\/p>\n

“Nestle is committed to taking all necessary steps to protect its rights and ensure continuity of business operations in the interests of all \u200bstakeholders, particularly its employees,” the company said in a statement. <\/p>\n

It declined to comment further on what action it was considering. <\/p>\n

Nestle shares were down 1.5% in early trading in Zurich. <\/p>\n

Russia has tightened control over foreign-owned assets since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022. A 2023 decree signed by President Vladimir Putin gives Moscow the power to place assets from countries it deems “unfriendly” under temporary administration. <\/p>\n

Moscow has also used the law to raise cash through forced sales, exit taxes \u200cand discounts, while rewarding Kremlin-loyal insiders. <\/p>\n

The Swiss government, which \u2060has been sharply criticised by the Kremlin for following European Union sanctions on Russia, had no immediate comment on the matter. <\/p>\n

SUPERMARKET CHAIN AUCHAN ALSO TARGETED <\/p>\n

Nestle has six factories in Russia producing coffee, petcare and infant formula products. It generated \u2060sales of about 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.4 billion) in Russia in 2021, the last year it released figures, and has about 7,000 employees there. <\/p>\n

The sales figure corresponds to about 2% of Nestle’s total sales, although analysts estimate the contribution has declined after the company scaled back activities in the country. <\/p>\n

Nestle has suspended the vast majority \u200bof \u200bsales, non-essential imports and exports, advertising and capital investment, said Bank Vontobel analyst Jean-Philippe \u200bBertschy, who estimates Russia now contributes around 1% of group sales. <\/p>\n

“While \u200cnegative for sentiment and raising the prospect of an asset impairment or unfavourable disposal, we expect a marginal financial impact, given Russia’s limited contribution to group sales,” he said. <\/p>\n

French supermarket group Auchan was also targeted by Thursday’s decree, with its Russian assets transferred to the temporary management of L.E.V. Management. <\/p>\n

Auchan, which operates 230 stores and an online business in Russia where it employs about 30,000 people, declined to comment. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Russia’s Kommersant newspaper has previously reported that a company known as KS Logistika asked Putin to place Nestle’s assets under temporary administration. <\/p>\n

In previous cases, temporary administration has often preceded state expropriation, with assets \u200clater transferred to Kremlin-linked individuals or companies. <\/p>\n

Other Western companies have sold Russian assets or \u200bhanded them to local managers to comply with sanctions or in response to threats from \u200bMoscow to seize foreign-owned assets. <\/p>\n

Nestle has justified continued operations in Russia \u200bby arguing that, as a food producer, it supplies essential goods. <\/p>\n

Moscow took control of French dairy company Danone’s Russian \u200cbusiness and beer company Carlsberg’s stake in a local brewer \u200bin 2023. <\/p>\n

Danone was removed from the list \u200bof assets under temporary Russian state management in March 2024 amid reports that a Russian businessman known for his pro-war credentials planned to buy the business at a steep discount. <\/p>\n

In December 2024, Carlsberg sold its shares in Baltika Breweries in a management buyout. <\/p>\n

Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Jon \u200bCox said such experiences did not bode well \u200cfor Nestle. <\/p>\n

“Ultimately, Nestle may end up losing those assets \u2014 around 2% of its sales and cash tied up in Russia \u2014 for the \u200bforeseeable future and any compensation is unlikely to be an offset,” he said. <\/p>\n

($1 = 0.8242 Swiss francs) <\/p>\n

(Reporting by John Revill, additional \u200breporting by Makini Brice in Paris Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Mark Potter) <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John Revill ZURICH, Sept 18 (Reuters) – Nestle said on Friday it was weighing all options to protect its rights after the Kremlin’s decision to take control of the Swiss food maker’s Russian business, the latest move against a Western company since the \u200cwar in Ukraine began. The maker of Nescafe coffee and KitKat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us-stocks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1325\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btbitcoin.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}