Moscow has moved to place the assets of various companies from four European countries operating in Russia under temporary management. The four countries are France, Germany, Sweden and Belgium.
President Vladimir Putin took the step by decree at a time when Russia’s relations with the European Union (EU) have hit rock bottom over the bloc’s support for Ukraine, Reuters reported.
The companies whose assets are listed in the decree, issued on Thursday, 15 October, include the French flooring maker Tarkett, the German packaging maker Menshen, the Swedish packaging company Sverige International Holdings and the Belgian hygiene products maker Ontex.
The decree also names the Russian assets of Eviosys, a European metal packaging business bought by the US packaging group Sonoco in December 2024. The decree lists these assets as owned by Sonoco’s Dutch unit.
The Kremlin has said before that such moves to take control of foreign companies are a response to EU countries’ involvement in “direct hostilities on the battlefield”. But it has stressed that the process is “reversible”, meaning the assets can be returned to their former state.
The new step against European companies comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to attend an EU summit on Friday. There are also reports that the United States may try to take control of some Russian assets frozen in Europe.
Russia has sharply criticised the EU because, in response to the war, the bloc has frozen about $238 billion of Russian state assets and targeted the assets of Russian companies in Europe and other Western countries.
Last month Russia took similar action against the food giant Nestle and the retailers Auchan and Metro.
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