After targeting French and German companies, Russian President Vladimir Putin has seized control of Belgian diaper manufacturer Ontex’s Russian operations
Putin signed a decree allowing a government-appointed administrator to assume full operational control of the company’s Russian business and its approximately 350 local employees.
Ontex’s Belgian management is no longer able to make decisions regarding its Russian plant, while revenues generated by the facility will remain in Russia, preventing the company from repatriating profits to Belgium.
The move is part of a broader wave of state takeovers and expropriations of companies from countries deemed “unfriendly” by the Kremlin, following Western sanctions and the freezing of Russian assets in response to the war in Ukraine.