In March 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a meeting with the government of the country, said that “external management“ should be introduced with respect to Russian assets of foreign companies that are going to close production facilities and “transfer these enterprises to those who want to work.“
This was followed by several presidential decrees on the transfer of a number of such companies under external management. SanctionsLists draws attention to the fact that after the introduction of such management, a number of companies began to transfer funds to support the “SMO” (“Special military operation” in Ukraine is a euphemism used by the Russian authorities to refer to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022) or directly help the army.
Theoretically, such assistance could lead to companies becoming targets of EU or US sanctions. In practice, after such assistance to the military, European owners sell them to Russians at a significant discount.
For example, in July 2023, the Russian brewing company Baltika, which was owned by the Danish Carlsberg Group, was placed under temporary management by Russian managers. A year later, on June 3, 2024, Baltika launched the production of a tonic fortified soft drink “For their own“ to be sent to the front and distributed free of charge among the participants of the SMO. A few months later, Carlsberg Group sold Baltika and it became the property of the Russian company VG Invest. The Reuters news agency reported that the deal amount implied a sale at a significant discount.
A similar scheme with the help or cooperation with the Russian military is now unfolding with other companies.
In February, CanPack, a Russian manufacturer of aluminum cans, donated 500 million rubles to the People‘s Front Charitable Foundation. Everything is for victory.“ CanPack is a Polish company that owns factories in the Moscow and Rostov regions of Russia. In January 2026, the Russian assets of the company were transferred by Putin‘s decree to the Russian company Stalelement.
On May 19, 2026, a representative of the Russian division of the Danish company Rockwool announced that it would restore production of noise and fire insulation products for enterprises of the military–industrial complex (MIC), namely for ships and submarines. The Russian Rockwool plants were transferred at the end of 2025 by Putin‘s decree to the temporary management of JSC “Development of Construction Assets“.
