French retailer Auchan says it plans to remain in Russia, Ukraine calls for boycott
PARIS (Reuters) – Privately-owned French retailer Auchan plans to keep up its presence in Russia, its CEO stated in an interview printed within the French newspaper Journal du Dimanche on Sunday, prompting Ukraine to name for a boycott of the worldwide chain.
Auchan, which has round 30,000 workers, 231 shops and e-commerce actions in Russia, has already been criticised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for remaining operational in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
Within the interview printed on Sunday, Auchan’s chief government Yves Claude stated he feared the corporate risked dropping property or exposing native managers to potential authorized troubles if it pulled out of Russia.
The agency would additionally stay in Ukraine, Claude stated, the place its 43 supermarkets and round 6,000 workers, together with in areas hit by the conflict, have been working beneath “excessive circumstances”.
“A very powerful in our eyes is to keep up our staff and guarantee our major mission, which is to proceed feeding the populations of those two nations,” Claude stated.
Responding to the report, Ukraine’s overseas minister referred to as for a boycott of Auchan and all of its merchandise.
“Apparently, job losses in Russia are extra vital than the lack of life in Ukraine,” Dmytro Kuleba stated on Twitter.
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy has stated it was mandatory that each one Western corporations go away the Russian market and don’t cowl their “thirst for revenue” via “low cost” communication, explicitly citing Auchan and Swiss meals big Nestle.
The corporate generated 3.2 billion euros in gross sales in Russia final yr, round 10% of its world gross sales, and expects losses this yr in that market.
Moscow says the objectives for what Putin calls a “particular navy operation” embody demilitarising and “denazifying” its neighbour. Ukraine and its Western allies calls this a pretext for an unprovoked invasion.
(Reporting by Mimosa Spencer; Enhancing by Nick Zieminski and Raissa Kasolowsky)
