The Russian arm of the Dutch brewer Heineken has been sold for just one euro; the company said on Friday, 18 months after Moscow began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Heineken estimated that the entire loss from the sale to Russian industrial behemoth Arnest Group would be 300 million euros ($325 million). After the start of the conflict, Heineken received criticism for the slowness of its exit but said it was doing so to protect its local Russian employees. Heineken announced its exit from Russia in March of last year, citing the fact that its operations there were “no longer sustainable nor viable in the current environment,” but it also stated that it intended to secure an “orderly transfer” to a new owner. “While it took much longer than we had hoped, this transaction secures the livelihoods of our employees and allows us to exit the country in a responsible manner,” said Heineken CEO Dolf van den Brink in a statement. All of Heineken’s Russian assets, including seven breweries, are included in the deal. According to the corporation, Arnest has pledged to keep Heineken’s 1,800 local employees for three years. Last year, the Heineken beer brand was discontinued in Russia. The business said that Amstel, one of its other well-known brands, would be phased out in six months.
