**Only a few have shuttered operations there, and Paris isn’t demanding it.**
PARIS — As famous brands from IKEA and McDonald’s to Netflix pull out from Russia, major French companies are staying put there, drawing public criticism at home and from the Ukrainian government.
Following the invasion of Ukraine, French businesses such as energy giant TotalEnergies and retail brands Auchan and Leroy Merlin have been called out for maintaining their activities in Russia, including by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“French companies must leave the Russian market … Renault, Auchan, Leroy Merlin and others must stop sponsoring the Russian war machine,” Zelenskyy told the French parliament Wednesday. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba even called on customers globally to boycott carmaker Renault, which had restarted car production at its Moscow plant this week after resolving supply chain issues.
The automaker announced late Wednesday that it was suspending its operations in Russia, and was “assessing the available options” for its stake in Lada-maker AvtoVAZ.
French banks BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole said Tuesday they would stop operating in Russia, while bank Société Générale did not make similar announcements.
Meanwhile, TotalEnergies said it couldn’t just pull the plug on buying Russian gas and will stay in Russia though it will stop buying Russian oil and petroleum products by the end of the year.
Retailers Leroy Merlin, Auchan and Decathlon – all controlled by the Mulliez family – are also keeping their stores in Russia open, even after a Leroy Merlin outlet in Ukraine was reportedly bombed by Russia last week. The Ukrainian defense ministry slammed the DIY home-improvement chain for being “the first company in the world to finance the bombing of its own stores and killing its own employees.”
The CEO of Leroy Merlin was bending over on TV the other day, explaining how pulling out of Russian would destroy them financially… Quel fils de pute, as we say.
2 comments
1
**Only a few have shuttered operations there, and Paris isn’t demanding it.**
PARIS — As famous brands from IKEA and McDonald’s to Netflix pull out from Russia, major French companies are staying put there, drawing public criticism at home and from the Ukrainian government.
Following the invasion of Ukraine, French businesses such as energy giant TotalEnergies and retail brands Auchan and Leroy Merlin have been called out for maintaining their activities in Russia, including by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“French companies must leave the Russian market … Renault, Auchan, Leroy Merlin and others must stop sponsoring the Russian war machine,” Zelenskyy told the French parliament Wednesday. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba even called on customers globally to boycott carmaker Renault, which had restarted car production at its Moscow plant this week after resolving supply chain issues.
The automaker announced late Wednesday that it was suspending its operations in Russia, and was “assessing the available options” for its stake in Lada-maker AvtoVAZ.
French banks BNP Paribas and Crédit Agricole said Tuesday they would stop operating in Russia, while bank Société Générale did not make similar announcements.
Meanwhile, TotalEnergies said it couldn’t just pull the plug on buying Russian gas and will stay in Russia though it will stop buying Russian oil and petroleum products by the end of the year.
Retailers Leroy Merlin, Auchan and Decathlon – all controlled by the Mulliez family – are also keeping their stores in Russia open, even after a Leroy Merlin outlet in Ukraine was reportedly bombed by Russia last week. The Ukrainian defense ministry slammed the DIY home-improvement chain for being “the first company in the world to finance the bombing of its own stores and killing its own employees.”
The CEO of Leroy Merlin was bending over on TV the other day, explaining how pulling out of Russian would destroy them financially… Quel fils de pute, as we say.