The Russian government has given the go-ahead for the local company VG Invest to buy the assets of Danish brewer Carlsberg in Russia for 34 billion roubles, which is about $320.75 million. This deal came after Russia took control of Carlsberg’s share in Baltika Breweries back in July 2023. Carlsberg’s CEO, Jacob Aarup-Andersen, said that the company had its business taken from them.
Recently, Carlsberg’s assets were no longer managed by the government. In the new deal, some of Baltika’s shares in businesses in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will be handed over back to Carlsberg. In exchange, Carlsberg will transfer a brewery in Russia called Hoppy Union.
It’s important to note that Carlsberg is selling its assets at a much lower price than their actual worth. Carlsberg stated in February 2023 that their assets in Russia were valued at 7.52 billion Danish crowns (around $1.06 billion) by the end of 2022.
Since Russia faced Western sanctions for its actions in Ukraine, it has been making it harder for foreign companies to exit. The government has required these companies to sell at lower prices than they would normally get, and they also impose an extra fee on the sale, often referred to as an “exit tax.”
VG Invest was only started in August and is run by Yegor Guselnikov, who is also a vice president at Baltika. He co-owns another company, Brewery Development Centre (BDC), with Alexander Tolmachev, who previously worked with Heineken in Russia.
This sale of Carlsberg’s assets to VG Invest follows a similar situation with the French company Danone, whose assets were also sold off to a businessman with close ties to the Russian government.
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