Metro loses control of its Russian business under a Putin decree
Serguey Asael Shinder2 min readGerman wholesaler Metro AG lost operational control of its Russian subsidiary on Monday, 28 September, after President Vladimir Putin signed a decree placing it under temporary administration, Euronews reports. The decree hands management of Metro Cash and Carry's Russian operations to UK Torg RUS. Metro said it still formally owns the subsidiary, is analysing the consequences, and that Torg RUS is owned by Johannes Tholey, chief executive of Metro Russia.
The decree, posted on a Russian government website, gave no reason. It uses a 2023 decree aimed at businesses linked to "unfriendly countries", the same tool applied to the Russian units of Nestlé and Auchan. Temporary administration has in the past led to local owners taking over the Russian businesses of Danone and Carlsberg at deep discounts.
Russia is not a marginal market for Metro. It entered in 2001 and runs 91 wholesale stores there with about 9,000 staff. In the first nine months of its 2025/26 financial year, Russian sales rose 10.3% in euro terms to €2.14 billion, about 8.7% of group sales. Metro said it had been reducing its ties to the business since 2022.
The move comes amid a sharp diplomatic dispute. Germany has concluded that Russia was behind an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport and closed a Russian consulate in Bonn and a cultural centre in Berlin; Russia closed the German consulate in St Petersburg and denies the allegations. Stefan Meister of the German Council on Foreign Relations said the message is that German companies "could lose even more companies and assets in Russia", to push business to pressure Berlin.
Why it matters
For German companies still operating in Russia, the risk is no longer an exit priced at a discount but seizure by decree without one. Metro's case shows the tool now being used as a lever in a bilateral dispute, which makes every remaining German asset in Russia part of that dispute.