Shares of the previously nationalized French company Danone in Russia, one of the largest producers of dairy products, will be withdrawn from the management of the Federal Property Management Agency. The corresponding decree was signed by Vladimir Putin.

After Danone suspended its activities in the Russian Federation, in July 2023 its foreign shares were transferred to the balance sheet of the Federal Property Management Agency. Soon the company was headed by the nephew of the head of Chechnya, Kadyrov, Yakub Zakriev. Previously, he was deputy chairman of the government and minister of agriculture of the region. His father Salman Zakriev is the first deputy chairman of the Chechen parliament.

According to media reports, Danone wants to sell the Russian business to the Vamin company from Tatarstan. It is controlled by a member of the board of directors of Danone’s former subsidiary, H&N, Mintimer Mingazov. He was appointed to the position after Yakub Zakriev became the head of the former French company.

The Financial Times, citing its sources, wrote that under the terms of the deal, the Vamin company will pay 17.7 billion rubles. Of these, 10 billion rubles are to pay for Danone’s share, and another 7.7 billion are to service the debt of the Russian enterprise. “The secret,” as The Bell writes, “could be the consent of the French company to debug technical processes in new conditions and transfer recipes.”