Putin named the head of the giant company he seized

Moscow appointed a Chechen minister to head the Russian unit of yogurt maker Danone, which it took over. Yakub Zakriev, Minister of Agriculture of the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation, became the general manager of the company.

Zakriev was found to be the company’s general manager in the Spark-Interfax database, a Russian-based professional information platform. Zakriev was also alleged to be close to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.

At the same time, Taimuraz Bolloev appointed him director of Baltika, the Russian branch of Carlsberg. Bolloev is known to be linked to billionaires Yuri and Mikhail Kovalchuk, known for his closeness to Vladimir Putin.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Earlier this year, Moscow introduced rules allowing the seizure of assets of companies in “enemy” countries. Under these rules, the Putin administration seized control of the Russian subsidiaries of yogurt maker Danone and brewer Carlsberg last week.

With the decision, the shares of Baltika Breweries owned by Danone Russia and Carlsberg came under the control of the Russian state-owned company Rosimushchestvo (Russian Federal Property Management Agency).

GIANT COMPANIES HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED

In April, Putin signed a decree allowing Russia to temporarily take control of foreign assets, in response to Russian actions by the United States and other Western countries.

In the country, the trustees were previously appointed to manage the assets of the German companies Uniper and Finnish Fortum in Russia.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitriy Peskov said the trustees’ decisions in Russia were made due to the “aggressive” attitudes of Western countries towards Russian assets.