Russian Carlsberg staff arrested

The bosses of Carlsberg’s Russian business, Baltika Breweries, have been arrested following the Kremlin taking control of the firm.

Baltika Breweries chief executive Denis Sherstennikov and vice president legal Anton Rogachevsky were detained this week and were accused of fraud – allegations Carlsberg has reportedly branded as “fake”.

The move comes after Carlsberg ended its business in Russia due to the state raking over Baltika back in July.

Speaking to the drinks business, a spokesperson for Carlsberg said: “We are heartbroken by the news of the arrest of two Baltika employees yesterday in Russia along with allegations against several others. The safety of our employees, including of course in Russia, has always been our main priority. It is appalling that the efforts of the Russian state to justify their illegal takeover of our business in Russia has now evolved into targeting innocent employees.”

The Carlsberg spokesperson told db: “The allegations reported in Russian media are fake. Up until the introduction of external management by the Russian state, Baltika has acted in accordance with the law and the policies guiding all companies in the Carlsberg Group. As Carlsberg, we will of course do what we can to help the employees under these difficult circumstances.”

Last month, the boss of Carlsberg, Jacob Aarup-Andersen, said the Kremlin had “stolen our business in Russia”. An accusation that the Russian foreign ministry has denied.

Prior to that, the Danish brewer was in the process of selling Baltika Breweries as it looked to exit the Russian market due to the country’s war with Ukraine, however the government immediately seized control of the company.

According to the reports, investigators have alleged that Sherstennikov and Rogachevsky acquired intellectual property rights for the companies Carlsberg Kazakhstan and Vista BWay Co, which previously belonged to Baltika, “through deception”.

Investigators in St Petersburg claim the rights, which are estimated to be worth more than RUB295 million (£2.65m), enabled Baltika to supply its products to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia and Belarus.

Baltika Breweries employs 8,400 employees across eight plants. Since the invasion of Ukraine in February last year, many Western companies have chosen to leave Russia and close down operations.

Despite plans to leave, while Carlsberg looked to sell its Russian business, in July the Kremlin took control of Baltika under an order signed by President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier this year, Moscow had introduced rules allowing the Kremlin to seize the assets of firms from “unfriendly” countries.

In October, Carlsberg announced that it had informed Baltika that it had terminated all of its licence agreements to produce, market and sell its products in the country, but added there would be a run-off period until 1 April 2024 while the company used to any existing stock.

Despite these efforts, Baltika appealed to the arbitration court with a request to prohibit Carlsberg from terminating the licensing agreement.

Aarup-Andersen had also said that Carlsberg refused to enter into a deal with the Russian government that “somehow justifies them taking over our business illegally”.