Heineken sells Russian operation for €1
August 25, 2023
The Dutch brewer Heineken said on Friday it had sold its operations in Russia to that country's Arnest Group for a single symbolic euro and had now completely left the territory.
The company had already announced its intention to close down its Russian operations back in March 2022 following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
It has now acknowledged that the process had taken longer than expected.
"Recent developments demonstrate the significant challenges faced by large manufacturing companies in exiting Russia," Chief Executive Dolf van den Brink said in a statement.
Heineken has previously responded to criticism of its slow exit by saying it wanted to look after its local employees in Russia.
Heineken's Russia exit could cause exceptional losses
The deal was likely to leave it with exceptional losses of €300 million ($324.8 million), the company said.
Heineken is the world's second-largest brewer. It had seven breweries in Russia and 1,800 employees.
Under the deal, the latter will receive employment guarantees for the next three years.
The Heineken brand ceased being sold in Russia from last year, and production of Amstel beers is to be phased out within six months.
The Arnest Group is the biggest Russian manufacturer of cosmetics, household goods and metal packaging.
tj/rc (Reuters, AFP)