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- October 16, 202612°
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- October 16, 202612°
Russia places U.S. AptarGroup subsidiary under temporary state control
Vladimir Putin placed Illinois-based AptarGroup’s Russian subsidiary Aptar Vladimir under temporary state control and transferred it to H&N. The move marked at least the fifth major Western company targeted in less than a week.
Under a decree signed by Vladimir Putin, Aptar Vladimir, the Russian subsidiary of Illinois-based packaging manufacturer AptarGroup, was placed under temporary state control.
The company, owned by Aptar Europe Holding, was transferred to H&N, short for Health & Nutrition. H&N had previously acquired the Russian assets of French dairy company Danone, which the Kremlin seized under a similar decree issued in 2023.
Seizures of Western companies are expanding
Aptar became at least the fifth major Western company targeted by the Kremlin in less than a week. Last Thursday, Putin transferred the Russian operations of French supermarket chain Auchan, Swiss food company Nestlé, home-improvement chain Lemana PRO, which previously operated under the name Leroy Merlin, and French logistics companies FM Logistics and Bati Logistics to the Russian company L. E. V. Management.
Kommersant previously calculated the total value of the seized assets at least 600 billion rubles, or approximately $7.14 billion.
Moscow defends seizures as retaliation for sanctions
Russia describes the sanctions imposed by Western countries over the invasion of Ukraine as “unfriendly” actions. Moscow also defends the seizures of company assets as retaliation for those measures.
The transfer of Aptar Vladimir took place after U.S. President Donald Trump signed comprehensive sanctions legislation allowing punitive tariffs to be imposed on countries that purchase oil and natural gas from Russia. However, it remained unclear whether the seizure of Aptar Vladimir was retaliation for that legislation.
The balance sheet of seized foreign assets
Since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia has seized the assets of at least 30 foreign companies, including Carlsberg, Fortum, Uniper, Ariston, Bosch and the EU.
The Institute of the Kyiv School of Economics estimated the value of these foreign assets at $74 billion before the seizures. The total losses of foreign companies that left Russia, including written-off investments, court decisions and exit taxes, were calculated to have reached $170 billion.
In August, Putin also signed a decree allowing strategically important facilities to be placed under state control if their owners failed to protect them from attacks against Ukraine or quickly repair damage caused by such attacks.
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