Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday called on French companies to leave Russia, calling “Renault, Auchan and Leroy Merlin” “sponsors of the Russian war machine.”
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“Leaving Russia would be unimaginable from a human point of view”assures Yves Claude, CEO of Auchan, in an interview with Sunday newspaper (paid item), published Saturday March 26. On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on French companies to leave Russia, calling “Renault, Auchan and Leroy Merlin” of “sponsors of the Russian war machine.”
“Mr. Zelensky is a very courageous man whom I respect (…). But these words are unfair”believes the CEO of Auchan. “The most important thing for us is to preserve our employees and ensure our primary mission, which is to continue to feed the populations in these two countries”he adds.
“It’s easy to criticize us, but we are there, we face up and we act for the civilian population.”
Yves Claude, CEO of Auchanin the “Sunday newspaper”
In Russia, where Auchan generates 10% of its global sales, “we have a discounter positioning and we believe we will contribute in a period of high inflation to protect the purchasing power of the inhabitants”, he adds. Yves Claude specifies that he does not want to deprive his employees, 40% of whom are shareholders, of their jobs and his customers of their daily bread.