The Kremlin’s seizure of German retailer Metro AG’s business in Russia is the latest demonstration of how Moscow is weaponising the presence of Western companies that have chosen to remain in the country. It underscores the growing risks to shareholder and investor rights, as well as fundamental property rights, faced by companies that continue to operate in Russia. B4Ukraine Coalition has warned Metro and other Western companies about these risks since 2022, urging them to make a responsible exit from Russia.
The Russian government’s seizure of Metro’s and other major EU companies’ assets is an attempt to gain leverage by holding them hostage and using them to undermine European unity on sanctions.
The tactic is not new. Austria’s delay of the EU’s 21st sanctions package, amid demands to unfreeze assets linked to the sanctioned Russian oligarch to compensate Raiffeisen Bank, demonstrated how companies with significant exposure to Russia can become entangled in efforts to secure concessions from the EU.
Metro, alongside Auchan and Nestle, has been among the most politically exposed major European companies able to influence their governments’ negotiating positions on sanctions, and their continued presence has gifted Russia this leverage point.
Nezir Sinani, Executive Director of the B4Ukraine Coalition, said:
“The Kremlin will weaponise whatever EU assets are left in Russia, using whatever method works. It is not legally purist; it is tactically opportunistic. The continued presence of European companies in Russia has handed Moscow a bargaining chip — an entirely predictable risk. We have been warning companies and governments about it for years.
Moscow will undoubtedly come for the assets of others. This is why the least risky option is not to sit and wait for nationalisation, but to leave Russia, accept the financial losses, and seek recourse through international arbitration.
The EU and its Member States must confront the role their businesses continue to play in Russia. They need clear standards for responsible corporate conduct that protect human rights while also safeguarding Europe’s economic and national security.”
B4Ukraine once again calls on Western companies to urgently leave Russia before they, too, face the same fate as Metro and risk becoming complicit in Russia’s crimes.