Putin signs decree nationalizing Russian assets of Auchan, Nestle and Leroy Merlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree placing the Russian assets of several foreign companies under state control. The move was reported by Russian propaganda agency Interfax, citing the decree's text published on Russia's official legal information portal.

Under the decree dated September 17, the assets of French retailer Auchan and Swiss food giant Nestle in Russia are being forcibly transferred to the management of a joint-stock company called "L.E.V. Management." The same entity has also taken control of assets belonging to logistics operators FM Logistics and Bati Logistics, as well as a company that formerly operated under the Leroy Merlin brand.

A shell company

According to Russian corporate registries, L.E.V. Management is a newly formed entity with no prior business activity, registered in Moscow only in October 2024. Its listed general director is Andrei Krayushkin, though the company's real beneficial owners have not been disclosed.

Nestle has operated in Russia since 1994 and runs six major production sites across the country. Auchan entered the Russian market in 2002 and currently operates 230 stores in 100 cities; since 2022 it has claimed to operate autonomously from its parent group but never actually exited. Leroy Merlin, present in Russia since 2004, later rebranded and in 2023 was sold almost entirely to a company based in the United Arab Emirates, with French parent group Adeo retaining only a token stake.

Background

Russian authorities have repeatedly threatened to seize the assets of Western companies as a "symmetrical response" to sanctions and the freezing of Russian state funds abroad. In May 2024, Putin signed a decree allowing US property in Russia to be used to compensate for the seizure of Russian assets in the United States. In autumn 2025, following EU decisions to fund loans to Ukraine using proceeds from frozen Russian assets, Putin sped up the nationalization procedure for foreign companies, cutting the asset valuation period to just 10 days. All transactions involving confiscated property have been assigned to Promsvyazbank, which serves Russia's Defense Ministry.