Kremlin Spokesman Says on November 9 He Is Not Aware of Any Request to Seize Coca-Cola HBC's Russian Assets; Shares Rise More Than 4% After Denial
The Kremlin is not aware of a request by a Siberian brewer for President Vladimir Putin to place Europe-focused bottler Coca-Cola HBC's Russian assets under temporary management, a Kremlin spokesman said on Monday, November 9, Reuters reported.
Russia's Kommersant newspaper reported on Thursday that beer maker Bochkari had sent the letter and also asked to be appointed as temporary manager of the assets. Following the report, Coca-Cola HBC's London-listed shares plummeted 18% before stabilising on Friday. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied knowledge of the letter in a statement at a daily news briefing on Monday, sending Coca-Cola HBC's shares up by over 4%.
Russia has in the last few months seized the assets of other foreign businesses, including French supermarket chain Auchan, Swiss food giant Nestle and, most recently, Japan Tobacco; some of those takeovers were preceded by similar requests from local firms, according to letters leaked to Russian media. Coca-Cola HBC is a Swiss-registered bottling company that is 21% owned by the U.S. beverage giant Coca-Cola, which, like many Western companies, officially withdrew from Russia in 2022 after the start of Russia's war in Ukraine. Coca-Cola HBC said on November 5 that it had not received any notification from Russian authorities of changes to its operations in the country, and added that those operations have been run locally on a self-standing basis since 2022.
According to Kommersant, Bochkari's letter cited Coca-Cola's sponsorship of global sporting events from which Russian athletes are barred due to the Ukraine war among its justifications. Bochkari is owned by businessman Vadim Smagin. Bochkari did not respond to a Reuters request for comment about the letter.
Russia has mostly spared U.S. companies in its recent takeovers of foreign-owned assets since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and the two countries last year opened talks on a peaceful settlement in Ukraine, Reuters reported. The American Chamber of Commerce estimates that some 300 U.S. firms remain in Russia. In its latest financial report, Coca-Cola HBC said its Russian unit had accumulated over $1 billion in cash as of July 3, 2026, which it cannot repatriate due to current restrictions.
Source: Reuters, November 9, 2026.
来源链接： https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/kremlin-not-aware-request-seize-coca-cola-hbcs-russian-assets-spokesman-says-2026-11-09/
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Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 可口可乐装瓶厂（资料图）。（Wikimedia Commons／CC0）|A Coca-Cola bottling plant (file photo). (Wikimedia Commons / CC0)
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