London CNN —Heineken has announced its departure from Russia following the sale of its business in the country for a symbolic €1 ($1).
The brewer expects to incur a total loss of €300 million ($323 million) from the deal.
But over the past 18 months, the Kremlin has made it increasingly difficult for Western firms to sell their Russian assets.
In March, Heineken said it had decided to “do everything possible” to avoid its Russian business being nationalized, while leaving the country “as quickly as possible.”“First, we don’t think the Russian state or the people closest to it would have the best interests of our people at heart.
Second, we were uncomfortable that the Russian state should benefit from forced appropriation of major business assets,” it said in a statement.
Persons:
London CNN —, Dolf van den Brink, ”, — Olesya Dmitracova
Organizations:
London CNN, London CNN — Heineken, Arnest Group, Heineken, Arnest
Locations:
Russia, Russian, Moscow, Ukraine