Auchan remains in Russia, a justified option “from a humanitarian point of view”

Yves-Claude is faced with a decision “that is not easy to make”. CEOAuchan Retail International on Sunday defended maintaining the group’s activities in Russia Because “departure is imaginable from an economic point of view but not from a human point of view.”

The Ukrainian president interrogated him Volodymyr Zelensky Before the French Parliament on Wednesday regarding his activity in Russia, where he has existed for twenty years and employs 30,000 people, Auchan decided to stay in the country even if losses are expected there for 2022, as Yves-Claude explains in an interview in Sunday newspaper.

In Russia, where Auchan makes 10% of its global sales, “we have a discount center and we believe that we will contribute to a period of high inflation to protect the purchasing power of the population,” he adds, explaining that he does not want to deprive its employees, 40% of whom are shareholders, of their jobs and its customers of their daily sustenance. “It’s easy to criticize us, but we’re there, and we’re up against, and we’re working for the civilian population,” he answers critics who call the Molise Family Association (Leroy MarilynOr Auchan or Decathlon) to leave Russia, believing that its brands make it one of the largest taxpayers of the Russian state budget.

‘Difficult’ conditions in Ukraine

Yves-Claude, who was recently appointed head of Auchan Retail and Auchan France, recalls that Auchan suspended its investments in Russia and that its subsidiary (232 stores and e-commerce activities) operates there “on self-sufficiency”. Like other groups, it also argues that withdrawing would expose its local leaders to lawsuits and bail out Russian capital, a move that is “counterproductive.”

Auchan is also located in Ukraine, where the group operates 43 stores and employs 6,000 employees. Conditions there are “extreme” and start to notice that stocks are running out of fresh produce because 90% of the produce comes from within the country. Supply solutions from neighboring countries have been put in place this week, as determined by the CEO. One hundred Ukrainian employees have been welcomed by their counterparts abroad and will be assigned to other places by the group, whose shareholders will allocate a part of the profits to help refugees, he again explains.