Danone gets green light for sale of Russian operations

Danone has obtained approval from Russian authorities to sell its operations in the country. The transaction forces the company to write down 1.2 billion euros.

5 % of sales

In a press release, Danone announces that it has been given the green light to sell its Russian subsidiary to LLC Vamin R, a dairy company owned by Mintimer Mingazov, a friend of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. The sale would be completed over the next few weeks. Financial Times estimates the transaction at 17.7 billion rubles (180 million euros).

Danone began transferring its subsidiary in Russia in October 2022 and deconsolidated the company in July 2023, after the Russian government took control of the assets. The French dairy company had operated in Russia since 1992. Operations there accounted for about 5 % of the multinational’s total sales. Danone booked a write-down of 1.2 billion euros from the discontinuation.