Heineken leaves Russia

One euro for breweries

28-Aug-2023 - Russian Federation

(dpa-AFX) Dutch brewing group Heineken has completed the sale of its operations in Russia and will leave the country for good. Russia's Arnest Group will take over all shares, including seven breweries, for the symbolic price of one euro, the company announced Friday. Heineken expects a loss of around 300 million euros. All of the approximately 1800 employees are expected to keep their jobs.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Western sanctions, many Western companies have withdrawn from Russia. Heineken also began doing so in March 2022, and beers under the brand were no longer sold.

However, the brewer came under criticism as other activities continued and new beer brands entered the market. The company then acknowledged errors in communication. The withdrawal from Russia took longer than expected, said Heineken CEO Dolf van den Brink. "Although it took much longer than we had hoped, this transaction will ensure the livelihood of our employees and allow us to leave the country in a responsible way." Sales and production of the Amstel beer brand will cease over the next six months.

Arnest Group produces packaging materials, cosmetics and household goods. According to Heineken, a job guarantee has been agreed for the approximately 1800 employees for the next three years. Heineken also stressed that the beer would not become more expensive. Expected losses had already been written off to a large extent.

Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.

https://www.yumda.com/en/news/1181412/heineken-leaves-russia.html