Putin places assets of Sauerland companies under receivership

Russia has placed the local assets of several European companies under temporary state administration. According to a decree from President Vladimir Putin, this affects, among others, the German packaging manufacturer Menshen.

According to the company's website, Menshen, based in Sauerland, produces, among other things, closures and special packaging and employs 1,400 people worldwide.

Also on the Russian list are the French flooring manufacturer Tarkett, the Swedish packaging manufacturer Sverige International Holdings and the Dutch packaging manufacturer Sonoco. The Kremlin says the measure is a response to the role of EU states in the war. However, the decision is “reversible”.

Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the seizure of companies and assets of the French trading group Auchan, the German trading company Metro, the hardware store chain Leroy Merlin and the Swiss food group Nestlé. The Kremlin justified this by saying that the companies belonged to countries that Russia considers “unfriendly” and that support Ukraine.

At the same time, Putin criticizes the freezing of Russian assets in Europe. It was “completely unacceptable” that European states had frozen gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Russian central bank and used proceeds from them to finance Ukraine, he said recently. He also accused Western states of “snatching” Russia’s assets from large companies such as Gazprom, Rosneft and Lukoil.