Danone completes Russian exit amid war's economic impact

Food giant Danone has announced that it has finalized the sale of its assets and is shutting down operations in Russia, which accounted for about 5% of the company's global sales, reports the portal ukrinform.ua.

At the start of the war in Ukraine, Danone was a leader in dairy product production in Russia. In the first nine months of 2022, the Essential Dairy and Plant-based operations accounted for about 5% of the company's net sales. The producer had 18 enterprises in Russia, which employed over 10,000 people.

Now Danone is leaving Russia.

"Danone has announced that it has finalized the sale of its food operations in Russia to Vamin R LLC after obtaining the necessary approvals from Russian regulatory authorities," the portal ukrinform.ua cites the company's statement.

The Ukrainian portal notes that it took the company over seven months from the start of the war in Ukraine to withdraw from Russia. Only in October 2022 did it announce plans to exit the Russian market. But later, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree nationalizing Danone.

In 2022, Danone generated revenues of £2.4 billion from the Russian market, according to the Kyiv School of Economics calculations.

In Russia, the company was represented by brands: Prostokvashino, Activia, Actimel, Rastishka, Danissimo, Danone, Bio Balance, Aktual, Smeshariki, Alpro, Bebelac, Tyoma, Nutrilon, Malyutka, and Evian.