FT: Conflict Between Patrushev And Kadyrov Over Control Of Danone Russia
- 19.07.2023, 11:38
- 11,084
As a result, Putin gave the world brand to the nephew of the head of Chechnya.
Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev and Chechen businessmen were interested in the business of French yogurt maker Danone, the Financial Times reports.
Danone's attempts to sell its Russian unit were torpedoed by Dmitry Patrushev, the agriculture minister and son of Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev, a close and longtime aide of Vladimir Putin. People familiar with the effort told the FT. "The minister wants to put his people there to take control of the business," said a person familiar with the sale process.
"Sanctioned members of Russia's elite, including businessmen close to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, are interested in Danone Russia, two people familiar with the sale process, in which Danone selected three of 40 bidders, told the newspaper." According to two other people who advise foreign companies on leaving Russia, Kadyrov and people close to him are interested in Western food assets. "Why food? Because of stable sales volumes and profit margins," one of the newspaper's interlocutors explained.
As a result, Kadyrov's nephew, 32-year-old Yakub Zakriev, who is deputy chairman of the government and Chechnya's agriculture minister, was appointed CEO of Danone Russia on Tuesday.
Danone was days away from selling the company. The company intended to write off the value of assets worth up to 1 billion euros.
A Russian oligarch with decades-long ties to Putin called the seizure of Danone and Carlsberg's Baltika brewery a "redistribution of wealth" in favor of people in Putin's inner circle. Putin announced the actual expropriation of the two companies' assets on Sunday. People familiar with the matter say that the Kovalchuk brothers are interested in Baltika. Taymuraz Bolloyev, the founder of Baltika, has been appointed as its head. He headed the company in 1991-2004, practiced judo with Putin, and admitted in an interview that the president was actually the "godfather" of the brewery.
