Temporary Management
By the Presidential Decree No. 590 dated 11 July 2024, the Russian subsidiaries of Silgan Holdings Austria, the Austrian manufacturer of metal packaging, were transferred to the temporary management. These includes 100% shares in OOO Silgan Metal Packaging Stupino and OOO Silgan Metal Packaging Enem. The two Russian factories could now come under the control of Adygeja region.
Previously, several other companies were placed under temporary management, including the branches of Germany's Uniper and Finland's Fortum, as well as Baltika, a company that was part of the Carlsberg Beer Holding. Also in April 2024, the Russian subsidiaries of Ariston and Bosch were transferred to the temporary management of Gazprom Group Company – AO Gazprom Domestic Systems.
At the same time, in March 2024, the President of Russia cancelled the transfer of Danone Russia JSC and Danone Trade LLC to the Federal Agency for State Property Management (after their transfer to state management they were renamed H&N and H&N Trade, respectively), previously implemented on 16 July 2023.
The reasons for this decision were not disclosed. However, in May 2024, Danone reported on sell of its Russian business to a Tatarstan company Vamin R, whose beneficiary had joined the board of directors of Danone's subsidiaries after their placement under the temporary management.
New Legal Basis for Confiscation of Property
On 23 May 2024, the Russian President also signed Decree No. 442, which allows Russian courts to use U.S. assets to compensate the Russian Federation and the Central Bank of Russia for damages caused by unfriendly actions of the United States. This action was in response to the U.S. REPO Act, which allows for the full or partial confiscation of Russian assets under U.S. jurisdiction.
The new Decree establishes a mechanism that will enable Russian courts, with the assistance of the Governmental Commission for Control of Foreign Investments in Russia, to identify assets of U.S. persons in Russia and use them to compensate for the value of Russian assets lost due to unreasonable decisions by U.S. government agencies or courts.
According to the Decree, the property selected for compensation should adhere to the principle of proportionality. This may include, movable and immovable property, such as securities, shares in the authorized capital of Russian companies, and property rights belonging to U.S. entities and individuals. Additionally, the Decree limits the entities entitled to compensation for such losses to the Central Bank of Russia or Russia itself.
The President has given the Government a four-month deadline, until 23 September 2024, to draft and implement amendments to Russian legislation in accordance with the provisions of the Decree.