Putin has also placed the tobacco company JTI under compulsory administration
Keystone-SDA
Moscow has placed the Russian operations of Geneva-headquartered Japan Tobacco International (JTI) under compulsory administration.
According to a decree, president Vladimir Putin transferred JTI assets to the joint-stock company Promyschlennye Aktivy.
According to its own figures, JTI has four factories in Russia and produces several cigarette brands in the country. The company reportedly employs more than 4,000 people.
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Swiss-based firms active in Russia are ‘filling Putin’s war chest’
Russia was one of the firm’s largest markets, generating billions in turnover. However, the company states that it halted investment in Russia when the war began.
Prior to this, Putin had placed the Russian operations of several Western companies under external administration, including the subsidiaries of food giant Nestlé and the retail groups Metro and Auchan. These firms had continued their operations in the country despite Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
In September, Putin had not ruled out the possibility that Western companies’ assets might be nationalised. However, he stated that this was not planned. Russia was prepared to return the assets to their owners should the situation improve.
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Why Putin is placing Nestlé under compulsory administration
However, he said, external administration also created the opportunity to respond “in kind” to the seizure of Russian corporate assets in the West.
Putin has criticised the seizure of Russian state assets in the West as “completely unacceptable”. As an example, he cited Gazprom Germania GmbH in Germany, which was nationalised under the name Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (Sefe) following the start of Russia’s war of aggression in 2022.
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