EU official brands Russia "totally unsafe” for foreign investors

Russia has become "totally unsafe" for foreign investors, an EU official has warned.

This is stated in the commentary by Peter Stano, the spokesman for the EU foreign and security policy, for EUObserver regarding the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to which the shares of the foreign shareholders of the Baltika brewing company (Carlsberg) and the Danone Concern are transferred to the temporary management of Rosymuschestvo, Ukrinform reports.

"With this Russia is not only looting in Ukraine, it is moving on to illegally depriving owners from the control over their assets on Russian territory," the spokesman added.

"The Russian presidential decree is also a very clear signal to any outside trade, business partners, or investors — if there are any left — about the state of the rule of law, economic and financial guarantees and safety of their assets in Russia, making it totally unsafe and unpredictable also in economic terms," Stano said.

The Danish company Carlsberg said that "changes in the management of Baltika ... were made without the knowledge or approval of the Carlsberg Group."

As reported by Ukrnform, Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a decree by which the shares of foreign shareholders of the Baltika (Carlsberg) brewing company and the Danone concern were transferred to the temporary administration by the government-run Rosymuschestvo.

In March 2022, the Danish beer manufacturer Carlsberg announced that it was finally leaving the Russian market and planned to sell its entire business in the country.

In October, the international company Danone decided to give up control of the dairy business in Russia and leave the market.