Putin Seizes Nestlé and Auchan Assets in Russia: New Decree Places Western Giants Under Temporary Administration

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on September 17, 2026, a decree placing the Russian assets of Swiss food giant Nestlé and French supermarket chain Auchan under temporary administration; the assets pass to the management of Russian company L.E.V. Management.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 license)

The decree also covers Bati Logistics, FM Logistics and Le Monlid LLC — the Russian legal entity of Leroy Merlin, which now operates under the Lemana PRO brand.

Neither company had left Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022: Nestlé had suspended brands such as KitKat, stopped advertising and capital investments in Russia, arguing that as a food producer it supplies essential goods; Auchan had also placed its Russian subsidiary under local management in 2023, calling itself an essential civil service.

Russian newspaper Kommersant previously reported that a small Russian company, KS Logistika, had asked Putin to place Nestlé’s five entities in Russia under administration — a request its sources linked to Nestlé’s decision not to expand production capacity in Russia and to stop exports of products manufactured there.

Context: since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, Russia has tightened control over foreign assets; a 2023 decree gives Moscow the power to place under temporary administration the assets of countries it calls “unfriendly” — a mechanism previously used against Danone and Carlsberg.

Source: The Kyiv Independent — https://kyivindependent.com/putin-confiscates-nestle-auchan-assets-in-russia/