Putin nationalizes Coca-Cola Russia, state takes over world third-largest tobacco firm

A wave of nationalizations was unleashed by Moscow, as following the transfer of shares of the third-largest tobacco industry in the world, Japan Tobacco Inc, to a Russian enterprise, Vladimir Putin decided to place the company Bochkari, responsible for bottling Coca-Cola in Russia, under state control, as revealed by Kommersant on November 5.
Specifically, the Russian business newspaper reports that beer and soft drink manufacturer Bochkari, based in the Altai region, is requesting the president of Russia to place under external management the company Multon, which bottled products of international brands of Coca-Cola in Russia until 2022.
Multon remains one of the largest beverage producers in the country, with commercial brands such as Dobry and Rich in its portfolio.
The enterprise value of its business operations may reach 245 billion rubles, that is 2.67 billion euros.

Specifically, in mid-October, Bochkari LLC addressed Vladimir Putin, submitting a proposal to impose an external management regime on Multon JSC and Multon Partners LLC, with Bochkari itself assuming duties as temporary manager.
Notably, this information was confirmed to Kommersant by several sources knowledgeable about the matter.
According to one of the sources, the relevant request was forwarded to the Russian government for consideration and has already secured partial support from competent deputy prime ministers.
Kommersant contacted companies Bochkari and Multon, requesting comment on the case.

Storm, Putin nationalized global tobacco giant: «Passing under Russian control»

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, signed a decree transferring shares of the international tobacco group Japan Tobacco Inc. (JTI) in production facilities in Russia, under the external management of Industrial Assets JSC, as reported by news agency Tass on November 5.
Indeed, the relevant decree was published in the gazette of the Russian government.
Specifically, shares of the companies Donskoy Tabak, Pereslavl-Tabak, JTI Yelets, Kres Neva, and Petro are placed under external management.

JTI, in which the Japanese state holds approximately one-third of the shares, is the third-largest tobacco company in the world.
It has been active in Russia since 1999 and has developed into the largest producer of tobacco products in the country.
The portfolio of JTI includes international cigarette brands, such as Winston, Mevius, Camel, Sobranie, Glamour, and LD, as well as the Russian brands Russkiy Stil, Peter I, and Troika.
The presidential decree of the Russian Federation «On Temporary Management of Certain Assets», adopted in April 2023, establishes a mechanism for the temporary administration of assets belonging to entities from unfriendly states, in response to the seizure or restriction of property rights of Russian asset holders abroad.

The suspension of Coca-Cola operations in Russia and the temporary administrator

It is recalled that in 2022, Coca-Cola suspended the bottling of its international brands in Russia.
Since then, business operations of Multon have centered on local brands, such as Dobry, Rich, Moya Semya, Pulpy, Burn, BonAqua, and others.
According to the SPARK database, revenues of Multon Partners LLC in 2025 amounted to 77.32 billion rubles, recording an increase of 4.2% on an annual basis.
Net profits of the company during the same period more than doubled, reaching 10.25 billion rubles.

Financial metrics for Multon JSC after 2023 have not been published.
In that year, its revenues amounted to 46.66 billion rubles and its net profits to 6.25 billion rubles.
Chief Executive Officer of Infoline-Analytics, Mikhail Burmistrov, highlights that Multon currently represents the largest producer of soft drinks in Russia.
He estimates that the total valuation of the company stands at least at 245 billion rubles, of which 150 billion corresponds to enterprise value and 95 billion to available cash holdings.

Revenues of Coca-Cola subsidiary in Russia stand at 1.61 billion euros

This assessment is based on revenues of Coca-Cola HBC from its Russian subsidiary, which in the past year amounted to 1.61 billion euros, a sum corresponding to 152.8 billion rubles excluding VAT, based on the average exchange rate of the Russian Central Bank.
Transactions involving sales of business operations of foreign companies in Russia traditionally take place with a substantial discount on their valuation.

Since 2024, the minimum mandatory discount has been set at 60%.
Imposition of external management frequently, though not always, leads to the subsequent divestment of an enterprise, although the procedure is considered reversible.

What Bochkari emphasizes in its letter to the Russian president

A typical example is the Italian household appliance manufacturer Ariston Holding NV, which managed to regain control over its operations in Russia after the imposition of external management.
According to sources of Kommersant, the Bochkari group, in order to substantiate its position, argues in its letter to the Russian president that the decision by owners of Multon to suspend investments in Russia adversely affects the overall economic state of the country and its tax revenues.

As the authors of the letter point out, multinational Coca-Cola provides support to Ukraine and finances as a sponsor international sports events in which Russian athletes cannot participate due to restrictions that have been imposed.
Among these are included, for instance, the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Football Championship, and the Olympic Games.

Major wave of acquisitions in Russia since 2022

Bochkari, provided it assumes temporary management, intends to develop investment activities in the historic territories of Russia and allocate funds to finance charitable programs.
Founder of Famous Amazing Brands, Anton Stelmakov, notes that in recent years on the Russian market, several instances have been recorded in which smaller producers acquired larger enterprises.

For this reason, he considers that nothing unusual exists in the specific proposal.
Bochkari also possesses analogous experience.
In September, Vadim Smagin acquired the Russian operations of Polish aluminum can manufacturer Canpack.

Coordinated moves by Bochkari in the Russian soft drinks market

Bochkari had attempted in the past to initiate its own production of cola-type soft drinks.
The company's portfolio includes the Bochkari Hit product line, which is promoted as an import substitution product.
The line includes the flavours Cola, Orange, and Citrus, which are distributed through retail chains nationwide.
Anton Stelmakov notes that, despite numerous attempts, no domestic producer has managed to date to secure a substantial share in the Russian cola-type beverage market.
As he emphasizes, leading market positions are occupied not only by Dobry, but also by authentic Coca-Cola imported from abroad.

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