how the pressure is growing for Leroy Merlin to cease its activities in Russia

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“Stop sales to Russia.” This is the message posted Monday, March 21 on the Instagram account of Leroy Merlin in Ukraine by employees. This is accompanied bya link to an online petition asking Adeo, the parent company of the DIY brand, to end its activities in Russia. The Ukrainian authorities also criticize the French group for not having closed its stores in Russia, where it carries out 18% of its global activity. A request that now resonates in France, after the bombing of a shopping center in kyiv. Franceinfo explains how the group controlled by the Mulliez family (owner of Auchan and Decathlon) found itself at the heart of the controversy.

A bombed mall in Kyiv

It all started Sunday, March 20, around 10:45 p.m., when airstrikes hit “Retroville”, a huge shopping center in the northwest of kyiv, where a store of the brand is located. “Leroy Merlin became the first company in the world to finance the bombing of its own stores and the killing of its own employees”, accused the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

Opened in early 2020, just before the Covid-19 pandemic, “Retroville” has 250 stores. Around this temple of consumption, almost no window or bay window escaped the blast of the explosion. According to a provisional official report from the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office, the bombing killed at least eight people. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the mall served as an arms and ammunition depot.

Elected officials criticize the “cynicism” of the brand

On Twitter, a mmember of the Ukrainian Parliament challenges the French company in a video posted on Monday. “People have died here. It is possible that these videos will somehow influence your decision to continue paying taxes in Russia and thus financing what is happening here”protests Oleksiy Goncharenko.

Before this strike, in an article from Telegram (in English)Ihe French group had already been accused of profiting from the invasion of Ukraine. “These kind of companies have no moral right to exist. The hypocrisy and cynicism of the way they make money is just mind boggling. They’re okay with getting rich so let the blood of Ukrainian children flow”a Ukrainian MP told the British daily.

Calls to shut down in Russia multiply

Monday, March 21, employees of Leroy Merlin in Ukraine in turn ask, on Instagram, the group as well as the other signs of the Mulliez family – Auchan and Decathlon – to “stop selling to Russia”. That “will deprive the aggressor of the opportunity to fund” the Russian offensive in Ukraine, specifies the petition posted in connection with the publication.

Leroy Merlin claims, on its website, 36,000 employees operating in Russia, in 107 hypermarkets and 62 cities. In 2020, Leroy Merlin declared 4.2 billion euros in turnover there. Russia is therefore the brand’s second largest market behind France. And Adeo, the holding company of Leroy Merlin, achieved in 2020 a total turnover of 22.3 billion euros in Russia. More than 18% of its activity is therefore carried out in the country.

The controversy wins the Hexagon

In France, on the side of the sign, it is radio silence. Asked by AFP, the communication of Adeo and Leroy Merlin did not wish to react. A silence that exasperates Jean-Marc Cicuto, CFTC union representative at Leroy Merlin. This one said to himself “extremely angry” vis à vis of his direction. “We are angry that the company is moving into deep silence, even internallyhe said on franceinfo.

For now, only Decathlon, a brand also controlled by the Mulliez family, has announced that it has “frozen” its activities on site for “do not expose” its 150 employees “to a situation that does not fully guarantee their safety”. Auchan, requested by AFP, limited itself to “call for peace in this area” without further comment.


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