Putin puts the Russian operations of German giant Metro under temporary administration

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Monday the decree placing the Russian assets of the German wholesale giant Metro AG under “temporary administration,” The Moscow Times reports.

According to the decree, the temporary management of the operations is entrusted to the federal agency for the administration of state property, Rosimushchestvo, Reuters writes. Metro AG operates 97 stores in 65 Russian cities and ranks as the country’s fourth-largest retailer; in 2022 the company reported revenues of 224 billion rubles from the Russian market.

It is the latest case of the Kremlin taking over Western assets: earlier the same fate befell Ariston, BSH Hausgeräte, Linde, Air Liquide, Silgan and Rockwool, the American canned-food maker Glavprodukt and Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, while recently the Russian operations of Auchan and Nestlé were also placed under temporary administration, TVP World reports.

Unlike most Western competitors, Metro AG had decided to stay on the Russian market even after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, justifying the decision with responsibility toward its some 10,000 employees there — a stance that put the company on Ukraine’s list of “international sponsors of the war.”

In its reaction, Metro said it is reviewing the decree and discussing the next steps with Russian colleagues, and that it is taking measures to protect its rights, employees, customers and business partners, according to Slovenian public television.