Moscow (Reuters) – Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Friday placing the Russian assets of the French group Air Liquide under the administration of a local company.
This decree is part of Russia’s response to what it describes as “inmical” measures on the part of the United States and other Western countries.
This decision, which acts the transfer of Air Liquide assets to a company called M-Logistika, comes in a context of tense relations between Moscow and Paris around the conflict in Ukraine.
The transfer includes the joint venture of Air Liquid with Severstal, one of the main Russian steelmakers, as well as other activities of the group in Russia.
Air Liquide said in a press release that it had read the decision of the Russian authorities and “will study all the action routes open to it”.
The group specifies that an exceptional provision of 586 million euros had been recorded at the end of 2022 to depreciate all of the assets, without impact on cash, and since then, Air Liquide has no more residual financial exposure in the country.
Air Liquide withdrew from Russia in 2022 after signing an agreement to transfer its Russian assets to a local manager. The group then said that it employed nearly 720 people in the country and that its on -site activities represented less than 1% of its turnover.
(Written by Vladimir Soldatkin, Noémie Naudin, edited by Kate Entringer)
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