Moscow has taken control of the Russian subsidiaries of Swiss food giant Nestlé and French retailer Auchan in a renewed crackdown on western companies still operating in Russia that the Kremlin said was linked to "unfriendly" countries. President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday evening saying the subsidiaries had been placed under temporary administration and transferred to a shell company called LEV Management. The crackdown is the first such seizure of western-owned assets since Moscow took control of the Russian subsidiaries of French food group Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg's Baltika Breweries in 2023.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the decision was linked to France's policy towards Russia, calling France an "unfriendly country which is now actively involved in military action against our country." Nestlé, whose global headquarters are in Vevey, Switzerland, said the company was "assessing the situation and its options" and that "shares in the company slid just over 2 per cent to SFr76.5 on Friday morning." Auchan, privately held by France's billionaire Mulliez family, is one of the biggest western retailers left in the country following Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Russian subsidiary of FM Logistic and former Leroy Merlin subsidiary Lemano Pro were also placed under temporary management. Following the 2023 seizures, Danone and Carlsberg's subsidiaries were later sold at steep discounts to Russian businesses with links to the Kremlin.