Putin puts Nestlé and Auchan under a Moscow administrator; Bern asks him to reverse it

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Thursday placing the Russian assets of Nestlé and French retailer Auchan under temporary administration. The order, published on Russia's official legal portal, names AO L.E.V. Menedzhment as the administrator. The Moscow company was registered in 2024 and has almost no public profile.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that both firms are "European companies from unfriendly countries" whose home states are "currently involved in the most active manner in military actions against our country." He did not name Switzerland or France. Switzerland is not in the European Union. It has aligned with most EU sanctions on Russia since 2022.

The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs said it was concerned by the forced administration and that it is working with Nestlé to have the measure reversed. That is the first official Bern response. It is also the first time since the 2023 seizures of Danone and Carlsberg that Moscow has moved against a Western consumer group of this size.

What Nestlé still has in Russia

Nestlé operates six sites in the country and employs more than 7,000 people. Russia accounted for about 2 percent of group sales in 2021, the last year the company published a country figure, or roughly 2 billion Swiss francs. The firm said on Friday it had taken note of the decree and was assessing the situation. A later statement said it would take the steps needed to protect its rights and keep operations running for staff and other stakeholders.

Unlike many Western groups, Nestlé and Auchan stayed after the 2022 invasion. Auchan runs about 230 stores and an online business in Russia and employs around 30,000 people. The retailer declined to comment. Reporting around the decree has also linked assets connected to Leroy Merlin, the French home-improvement chain that likewise stayed.

Kommersant had earlier reported that a company called KS Logistika asked the Kremlin to put Nestlé's assets under temporary administration, arguing that current management was blocking expansion. That petition is the closest public explanation for why a food company that never left was singled out now.

Temporary often does not stay temporary

In the Danone and Carlsberg cases, temporary administration was the step before a sale to Kremlin-approved buyers at a discount, with an exit tax attached. Reuters listed the same two paths here: pressure Nestlé to put more money into Russia, or force an exit on those terms.

L.E.V. Management's thin record is part of the design. A little-known vehicle can hold assets without the political cost of putting them in the name of a recognised oligarch on day one. Ownership can be rearranged later.

Swiss voters are due to decide later this month on a tighter reading of neutrality. The Nestlé decree gives that ballot a concrete exhibit. A company that kept factories open and staff paid has still been treated as an enemy asset. Bern's request for a reversal will now test whether "temporary" is a holding pattern or a polite word for seizure.