French sporting chain Decathlon has said it's suspending store operations in Russia, days after Ukraine called for a boycott of French companies still working there.
"In strict compliance with international sanctions, Decathlon notes that the supply conditions are no longer met to continue its activity in Russia," Decathlon said in a statement on Tuesday.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba earlier called for a global boycott of its holding company, the Association Familiale Mulliez, which also owns retail giant Auchan and home and garden supplier Leroy Merlin.
Official statement: DECATHLON has to suspend the operation of its stores in Russia.
— Decathlon United Media (@DecathlonMedia) March 29, 2022
Full statement available here:https://t.co/EyPmIGeDV0 pic.twitter.com/SPbNM5ibhm
Those companies, which are still doing business in Russia, are under fire for doing so, as hundreds of Western firms – including many luxury brands – have closed shops or suspended their activities since Moscow invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
Car manufacturer Renault announced an immediate suspension of operations at its factory in Moscow after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy, in address to the French parliament, called out French companies still doing business in Russia.
He called French companies remaining in Russia to “stop sponsoring the Russian war machine” through the taxes they continue to pay to the Russian state.
Justifications for staying
Leroy Merlin employees signed an online petition calling for the company to leave Russia, saying “every ruble paid to the Russian state budget under the form of taxes helps the aggressor supply itself and kill more Ukrainians”.
Leroy Merlin and Auchan justified staying because of their “responsibilities" to their Russian employees.
Decathlon had the smallest footprint in the country, with 60 stores and 25,000 employees, while Leroy Merlin employs 45,000 people in 113 stores in Russia, which represents 18 percent of its global business. Auchan employs 30,000 people in 232 stores, which bring in 10 percent of global business.
Philippe Zimmermann, managing director of Leroy Merlin, told French daily La Voix du Nord that closing shops in Russia would lead to an expropriation, or seizure, and would therefore support the war more.
Yves Claude, CEO of Auchan Retail International, told the weekly Journal de Dimanche that the company, which sells groceries and basic necessities, was “protecting the purchasing power of the residents” of Russia in a time of strong inflation, adding that it continues to operate in Ukraine, despite the conditions.
Russia a big market
Before the war, more than 500 French companies operated in Russia, according to the French Economy Ministry, and French companies were the biggest foreign employers in Russia, with some 160,000 workers.
Companies such as energy giant TotalEnergies and the Société Générale bank have said they cannot stop operations in Russia.
TotalEnergies said it was "unable to end" its work in the country because it had signed 25-year contracts to operate gas fields.
Société Générale managing director Frédéric Oudéa said the bank's operations in Russia were “organised and managed autonomously” after events in Crimea in 2014, and therefore not under corporate control.
(with AFP)
