Danone transfers its business in Russia to LLC "Vamin R" after regulators' approval.

The French organization Danone announced that it has received the necessary approvals from Russian regulatory authorities to transfer its business operations in Russia to the company LLC Vamin R. The completion of this deal is expected in the near future. Danone reminded that it started the process of transferring its business in October 2022, but in July 2023, the assets were temporarily transferred to the management of Rosimushchestvo by the decree of President Vladimir Putin. The total damage from this deal, reflected by Danone in its reports, amounts to 1.2 billion euros, the company stated in its message. In February, the Financial Times (FT) reported on the possible sale of assets of the company Danone in Russia, citing a letter from the director of two subsidiary structures of Vamin Tatarstan - Vamin R and Vamin Snab - Ayrat Mukhamadeev, to the Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev. According to FT, this "daughter" company expressed readiness to pay 17.7 billion rubles ($191.5 million) for control over the business activities of Danone in Russia. Mukhamadeev stated that, according to an independent assessment, "the deal price represents a 56% discount from the market value of the business." Also, according to him, Danone agreed to provide support to ensure the continuity of its business operations and maintain the quality of products for consumers until the end of July 2024. On March 13, Vladimir Putin signed a decree canceling the transfer of the companies AO Danone Russia and AO Danone Trade to temporary management by Rosimushchestvo. After that, they were renamed to "H&H" (Health & Nutrition) and "H&H Trade". Last week, the newspaper "Vedomosti" reported that an agreement on the sale of Danone's Russian assets has been reached. According to the publication, "Vamin Tatarstan" and Yakub Zakriev, who is the deputy chairman of the government of Chechnya and the nephew of the head of the republic Ramzan Kadyrov, are ready to pay for the company. Zakriev headed Health & Nutrition from July 2023 to March 13, 2024. According to the counterparty verification service Rusprofile, LLC Vamin R was registered on September 25, 2023, in Kazan (Tatarstan) and has an authorized capital of 15,000 rubles. The owners of the company are "Vamin Tatarstan" (99%) and Ruslan Alisultanov (1%). The beneficiary is Mintimer Mingazov. The main activity is the activities of holding companies.