The French family group Mulliez, owner of Auchan, Leroy Merlin and Decathlon, has announced the departure of the sports equipment firm from Russia despite having maintained until last Sunday its refusal to stop operating in that country for humanitarian reasons.
The sports firm, belonging to one of the largest European distribution and retail conglomerates, has made this announcement because “the supply conditions are not met to maintain its activity in Russia”, where it has 60 stores and 2,500 employees. . The company assures that “in this dramatic context in Ukraine, it follows the evolution of events and particularly the situation of those who are particularly affected”.
For its part, the Auchan distribution group, which in Spain operates under the Alcampo banner, assured in a statement last Sunday that it will maintain its activity in Russia because abandoning it at this time would be “unimaginable from a human point of view.”
The company had been directly questioned by the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, when on March 23, in a telematic speech before the French parliamentarians, he indicated that Auchan, Renault, Leroy Merlin and others should stop being “sponsors of the machinery of Russian war”.
“His words are unfair. The most important thing in our opinion is to keep our workers and guarantee our main mission, that of feeding people,” the group’s CEO, Yves Claude, told the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche.
Auchan has been present in Russia for about 20 years, it has some 30,000 workers, of which about 40% are also shareholders, and 231 stores, which the manager fears will be expropriated if they leave.
“We are sure that by staying we will help our workers and the civilian population,” added Claude, who recalled that his group has already suspended its investments in Russia and that its subsidiary operates autonomously.
Auchan recorded a turnover of 3.2 billion euros in 2021, equivalent to 10% of its global turnover, and for 2022 it expects losses.
Prepared for criticism
“Leaving would be imaginable economically, but not from a human point of view,” said the CEO, who said he was prepared to receive criticism in this regard and stressed that, although the decision has not been easy, he is convinced that it is the correct.
The car manufacturer Renault, which has its second largest market in Russia behind France, in Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine.
Instead, Leroy Merlin, owned by the Mulliez family like Auchan and Decathlon, decided to stay: “We have no reason to condemn our Russian teams for a war they did not choose,” the company said on March 24, also warning that closing overnight would open the door to a possible expropriation that would strengthen Russian financial resources.
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