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The
Danish group had since last year attempted to sell its Baltika
subsidiary in Russia, following in the footsteps of many other
Western companies exiting Russia since its invasion of Ukraine.
However, after announcing in June it had found a buyer for its
business, Russian President Vladimir Putin the following month
ordered the temporary seizure of Carlsberg's stake in the local
brewer.
"There is no way around the fact that they have stolen our
business in Russia, and we are not going to help them make that
look legitimate," said Jacob Aarup-Andersen, who took over as
CEO in September.
Carlsberg had eight breweries and about 8,400 employees in
Russia, and took a 9.9 billion Danish crown ($1.41 billion)
write-down on Baltika last year.
Aarup-Andersen said that from the limited interactions with
Baltika's management and Russian authorities since July,
Carlsberg had not been able to find any acceptable solution to
the situation.
"We're not going to enter into a transaction with the Russian
government that somehow justifies them taking over our business
illegally," he said on a call with journalists following the
company's quarterly earnings statement.
Earlier this month, Carlsberg retaliated by ending license
agreements for its brands in Russia that have enabled Baltika to
produce, market and sell all Carlsberg products in the country.
"When these licenses run out with the grace period, they're not
allowed to produce any of our products any more. Of course, I
cannot guarantee that happens, but that is our expectation,"
said Aarup-Andersen.
($1 = 7.0168 Danish crowns)
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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