Unlike other groups, the French retailer Auchan continued its business in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. But an investigation by the daily Le Monde, published on Friday February 17, indicates that the group "appears to be contributing to the Russian war effort". "We are very surprised," responded the management of the group, owned by the Mulliez Family Association, to AFP. "We are in the process of verifying the asserted elements, but, to date, the elements in our possession do not corroborate" the investigation, she continues.
According to documents obtained by the daily, the investigative site The Insider and the NGO Bellingcat, Auchan delivered free goods to Vladimir Putin's army. The investigation mentions in particular a load worth 2 million rubles (about 25,000 euros) which would have been offered free of charge by Auchan.
According to Le Monde, a management controller, Natalya Z., had drawn up a list of equipment on March 15, 2022 in an e-mail sent "to about twenty employees in several stores in Saint Petersburg, in the west of the Russia, with the aim of “collecting donations of humanitarian aid”. It included "thousands of cigarettes, woolen socks size 43 or 44, canisters of gas stoves, canned pork stew, axes and nails, all from the store's stock", continues the daily.
The group's management notes that "the only elements provided date from March 2022", i.e. a few weeks after the outbreak of the conflict, and that in this case "the interlocutors who placed the order were usual interlocutors, who had already placed an order with us beforehand ". "We do not voluntarily and actively fund or participate in any fundraising for Russian forces," the management continues.
The 5th largest food retailer in France in terms of market share (behind E.Leclerc, Carrefour, Intermarché and Système U) had a long-standing presence in Ukraine and Russia, where before the war it achieved a tenth of its total sales. Another sign from the Mulliez galaxy, Leroy Merlin, is also very present there, to the point of dominating the DIY market in Russia.
When publishing its results for the first half of 2022 in August, Auchan indicated that it had recorded a "marked slowdown" in its commercial activity in Russia, assuring that this activity is carried out there "in maximum autonomy and in strict compliance with the European embargo".
