Citing shock and sadness due to Russia’s intensifying war on Ukraine, Heineken N.V said today that it will exit its business in Russia and no longer have a presence in the country.
“Following the previously announced strategic review of our operations, we have concluded that Heineken’s ownership of the business in Russia is no longer sustainable nor viable in the current environment,” the company announced. “As a result, we have decided to leave Russia.”
Heineken N.V., which operates seven breweries in Russia, said it “will not profit from any transfer of ownership,” and the company expects to take an impairment and other non-cash exceptional charges of “approximately €0.4 billion in total.”
The move follows Heineken’s previous actions to cease “new investments and exports to Russia,” ending “production, sale and advertising of the Heineken brand” in the country, and no longer accepting “any net financial benefits or profit from our business in Russia.”
Heineken, the largest beer manufacturer in Europe, said its aim is “for an orderly transfer of our business to a new owner in full compliance with international and local laws.”
“To ensure the ongoing safety and wellbeing of our employees and to minimise the risk of nationalisation, we concluded that it is essential that we continue with the recently reduced operations during this transition period,” the company added.
Heineken is guaranteeing the salaries for its 1,800 employees through the end of 2022 “and will do our utmost to safeguard their future employment.”
“We continue to hope that a path to a peaceful outcome emerges in the near term,” the company concluded in its statement.