By Serguei Doubine & Euronews Russian
Published on
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree ordering the compulsory seizure of Russian assets belonging to French flooring manufacturer Tarkett and four other European companies, whose combined annual revenue exceeds 50 billion roubles (€532 million).
The assets have been placed under the interim control of a management company called Centre Capital, registered in February 2026.
Its chief executive is listed as Marat Mirkhaydarov, former head of the administration of the regional governor of Zabaykalsky, who stood down in 2025 following an injury sustained in Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
The decree also covers paper packaging producer Kappa Rus, formerly part of Ireland's Smurfit Kappa, hygiene product maker Ontex RU, part of the Belgian Ontex group, metal packaging manufacturer Eviosys Packaging Kuban, part of US-based Sonoco Products Company, and Menshen Packaging CIS, owned by German plastics producer Menshen.
All five companies continued operating in Russia after the country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Tarkett, which ranks third globally by floor covering sales and leads the market in vinyl flooring according to its 2024 annual report, kept two plants in Russia out of its 34 production sites worldwide and continued paying taxes to the Russian budget.
The latest seizures follow a series of similar moves in September, when Putin placed the Russian assets of Swiss food giant Nestlé, German hypermarket chain Metro, French retailer Auchan and home improvement chain Leroy Merlin under temporary administration.
Those assets were transferred to a company called LEV Management, established shortly before the decision and reported by Russian media to have links to the country's security services. A manufacturer of plastic dispensing systems owned by French holding Aptar Europe Holding was also placed under temporary administration shortly afterwards.
A presidential decree signed in April 2023 established the mechanism for such seizures, authorising the imposition of temporary administration over certain Russian assets of foreign companies.
Western governments and international legal experts have described the move as unlawful expropriation. Companies whose assets are seized can, in principle, pursue compensation through international arbitration under bilateral investment treaties Russia has signed with EU member states, although enforcing judgments against the Kremlin and its entities is nearly impossible.
The first targets under that decree were Danish brewer Carlsberg and French dairy group Danone.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov directly linked the transfer of Nestlé's and Auchan's assets to the fact that they are companies from what Moscow terms "unfriendly countries".
“Unfriendly countries” is an official Russian government designation applied to all EU member states, the US, the UK and other states that imposed sanctions following the 2022 full-scale invasion, in an attempt to dissuade them from aiding Kyiv.
Russia has framed the asset seizures in part as a response to the EU’s decision to freeze approximately €300 billion in Russian sovereign assets following the all-out invasion.