Danone plans to divest from most of its activities in Russia

The agrifood giant will sell its “dairy and vegetable products” branch, retaining only that of infant nutrition.

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It is one of the few multinationals to have remained in Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine. The French agrifood giant Danone finally announced on Friday October 14 its intention to withdraw from most of its activities in the country.

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The group, which had initially assumed its presence in Russia to meet “the essential food needs of the civilian population”, now plans to cede control of its “dairy and vegetable products” branch, retaining only that of infant nutrition. He did not announce who might eventually take over that unit’s Russian factories and operations, or when exactly.

The “dairy and vegetable products” branch constitutes the major part of Danone’s activity in Russia. Since January 2022, this division “represented around 5% of consolidated revenue” of the group. The operation could “lead to a depreciation of up to 1 billion euros” in its accounts, underlines the French agri-food giant.

Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24 and the first economic sanctions decreed by the West, many multinationals have left Russia, others have suspended their activities there, in the oil, automobile or luxury.


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