How AB InBev losts its Russian breweries after all

AB InBev thought it had found a solution to keep its eleven Russian breweries out of the claws of the Russian state, but a geopolitical turn of events that set Erdoğan against Putin put a surprising end to that.

Geopolitical retaliation

Russia has nationalised AB InBev’s eleven breweries and put them under the control of GC Vmeste, a company set up by obscure Russian businessman Nikolai Tyurnikov. The mere timing of that company’s incorporation in August 2024 – just after an earlier failed attempt by AB InBev to sell its Russian interests – raises questions, Belgian newspaper De Standaard reports.

The Kremlin’s unexpected intervention seems to fit into a geopolitical strategy targeting Turkey, given recent tensions in Syria and Azerbaijan, Russian news medium Kommersant adds. AB InBev has long operated in Russia and Ukraine through a joint venture with Turkish brewery group Anadolu Efes. Because of the war in Ukraine (and resulting Western sanctions), the beer giant had tried to sell its half in the joint venture in 2023, but the Kremlin cancelled that move last summer.

Billion euro loss

That refusal meant that AB InBev had to continue operating in Russia, but the group did cede leadership entirely to Anadolu Efes. However, recent regional tensions mean that the Russian authorities now want to take revenge on Turkey, using the Stella and Leffe producer as a proxy battleground.

For AB InBev, the consequences still seem rather limited: the brewing giant had already been just a silent partner since 2022 and had written down its Russian operations by a billion euros. For Anadolu Efes, on the other hand, things are not looking good. It joins both Carlsberg and Heineken in the list of companies that saw their Russian operations mandatorily transferred to local parties. Insiders say this is a deliberate strategy to bring the Russian beer sector fully into the country’s own hands.