EU sanctions busted by the French again

While others close their Russian doors, French tills in Russia keep ringing

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2022

French companies find reasons to do business in Russia while British companies pull out

Economic sanctions from Western nations were meant to send a message to President Putin: Stop the war and withdraw from Ukraine. The French are ignoring world opinion.

Many businesses from the West – including those from the UK – signed up to the sanctions but it turns out yet again many French businesses are continuing to trade. Facts4EU's report shows how this trade emasculates the EU sanctions regime and gives comfort and income to Putin.

On Friday we reported on how France effectively broke an EU arms embargo with sales of military equipment worth €234m to Russia between 2014-2020. In this analysis Facts4EU looks at what French retailers are doing today in Russia to break the sanctions.

"Human lives are more important than profit," Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells L'Assemblée Nationale (French parliament)

“Renault, Auchan, Leroy Merlin and others must stop sponsoring Russia’s war machine, Human lives are more important than profit.”

“The Russian army makes no distinction between targets. They destroy residential areas, hospitals, schools, universities.”

- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, video address to France’s National Assembly, Wed 23 Mar 2022.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Russia’s French Connection

The Franco-Russia Chamber of commerce reported on 22 March that, “Not a single French enterprise left Russia” following the announcement of EU economic sanctions
TotalEnergies SE continues to trade in the oil and gas sector in Russia
In comparison, BP PLC, Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp have all pulled out of Russia
Car manufacturer Renault – 15% owned by the French Government – closed its Russian plant because of shortages of parts but then reopened it with production starting up again
Renault owns Russian car maker AvtoVAZ which includes the Lada marque. One factory of 30,000 closed temporarily but is open again and the wider indirect workforce of Renault in Russia is put at 500,000
Retailers Auchan, Leroy Merlin and Decathlon are all are all part of the Adeo Group, owned by the Mulliez family, worth an estimated $24 billion US. All are continuing to trade from their outlets

Philippe Zimmermann, CEO, Adeo (owner of Leroy Merlin and Bricocenter - the largest DIY holding company in Europe)

“There is no reason to condemn our Russian teams for a war they did not choose. There is no reason to turn away 45,000 employees representing more than 100,000 people with their families. There is no reason to stop being useful to Russians who need to repair, insulate, insure, protect and light their homes. We sell them essentials. It is our responsibility as employers and companies.”

- Adeo’s chief executive, Philippe Zimmermann in a video address to employees, 23 March 2022

The Wall Street Journal reported a spokesman for Auchan explaining that 95% of its products in Russia are produced domestically, “including wheels of Camembert cheese made from Normandy cows that one of its suppliers moved from France to Russia after the country’s 2014 annexation of Crimea triggered an initial wave of sanctions” – justifying sanctions-busting because it had bust the sanctions previously
Auchan has 311 retail outlets in Russia employing some 40,000 employees. Leroy Merlin has 112 stores and Decathlon has 60 outlets
Home improvement retailer Leroy Merlin closed its six stores in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion
Meanwhile in Russia its 112 stores remained open and it refuses to comment on reports that it is looking to expand its inventory to take up the space left by vacating Western companies
When the Russians bombed a Kyiv shopping mall last week the Leroy Merlin store was turned to rubble and its security guard killed, leaving a widow and child
The world’s largest yoghurt maker – Danone – continues to trade in Russia, saying, “We have a responsibility to the people we feed”
According to a French media report 35 companies from France’s blue-chip CAC 40 index continue to trade actively in Russia
In comparison Marks & Spencer has stopped supplying all goods to the 42 Turkish-owned outlets in Russia that are part of a franchise license agreement. M&S states it is in negotiations with its Turkish partner currently

Observations

French companies choose Russian profits before Ukrainian lives

The power of the EU to hold any unified position and deliver a common plan has yet again been exposed as a false narrative. France – which has not been in the top five of the Global Soft Power rankings for the last three years – is yet again exposed as only paying lip service to economic sanctions.

Last Friday Facts4EU revealed how France had found means to defeat the EU arms embargo to Russia by selling €234m of military equipment. Now, following another Russian invasion of Ukraine territory the leading French companies that were trading with Russia are continuing to do so. Using the excuse that they are delivering essential supplies such as food, it has not occurred to them that part of the process of sanctions is to send a message to people that the Russian Government’s behaviour is unacceptable.

It might also be asked how a door knob or a tin of emulsion paint from Leroy Merlin is an essential supply, or that a table tennis table from Decathlon is vital. The whole point of sanctions is to bring pressure on a government that is impervious to media pressure because it controls the media. The people of Russia do not have open communications and the internet is now heavily censored there. Only by disrupting everyday life – in a peaceful but direct manner - will they begin to be able to appreciate the folly of President Putin’s war.

The people of Ukraine have no such choice. Be it DIY tools, a new Lada car, or groceries from Auchan, all of these things have been taken away from them by Putin. The EU said it would introduce sanctions through its member states, therefore Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy is quite entitled to ask why French companies are not following them.

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[ Sources: L'Assemblée Nationale (French parliament) | CCI France Russie (Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie Franco-Russe) | Tass (Russian state news agency | Wall Street Journal | New York Times ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 29 Mar 2022

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Reader Comments 12

1. LuxuryBalloon , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 09:52:

Instead of re-moaning about the French, the UK can sanction individuals and companies in the EU that support Putin’s regime.

2. Douglas Vickers , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 09:59:

Can now see why we kept D Day a secret from them !

3. Simon Kynman , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 10:15:

The European "union"!! What a joke they are! This is how they keep peace in Europe is it! Load of old ollox they haven't ever kept the peace!!

4. Tony , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 10:26:

1. Another way to lead from the front would be to dig up those reports of alleged Russian interference in our elections, just so when Putin eventually gets to the ICC we can slap him with that too.

5. Have You Wondered , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 10:47:

Do You Wonder, when the EU deliberately, ineptly and negligently place themselves at the mercy of Russia gas and energy, that they are paying for even at this point in the Ukraine war, thereby financing Putin's aggression - what hope of the EU providing a credible and strategic defence force - let alone an army?

6. John Hardman , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 12:29:

EU have no credibility whatsoever.
Germany and France are a scum run state.
We need more media coverage to show the world and boycott all there blood money goods and company’s 🩸🤬

7. Tim , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 12:30:

5. Last Friday, the EU & the US signed a major gas deal which will replace one third of current Russian gas by the end of this year.
The EU is tightening ties with the US with a goal of procuring 2/3rds of it's energy elsewhere.
Ukraine barely had an army the 1st time Putin ran amock in their country. This time is totally different. Ukraine's army went from Zero to Hero in less than a decade.
What more if the EU gets full US supplies/support & training? In Biden's Friday speech, he did say that a united Europe is the only way forward, especially as America is focused on the Indo-Pacific. That must have swirvelled heads on Downing Street.
For your consideration: Of the 30 NATO members, 21 are EU members. Sweden & Finland probably will sign up to NATO, totalling an overlap of 23. The UK is still obligated to protect Europe as a NATO member. The often cited issue with creating an EU army is duplication. Pretty soon though, EU & NATO will be virtually indistinguishable except for the UK, Turkey, Iceland, N. Macedonia, Norway & Albania (Canada + US too). What happens if or when the EU takes the lead from NATO? Do you vote to rejoin? :)
Interesting times.

8. jon livesey , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 14:59:

When the French surrendered in 1940, they sold their military equipment and supplies to the Germans for use in their invasion of the USSR. The German Army in Russia used French trucks and artillery. Plus ca change, as they say.

9. jon livesey , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 15:08:

7. Tim ; "What happens if or when the EU takes the lead from NATO? " Look out for flying pigs, I'd say.

10. jon livesey , Tuesday, March 29, 2022, 15:24:

It has now been six years since the Referendum, and the so-called "exodus" of jobs from London to the EU turns out to be 7000, according to the Brexit-opposing company E&Y. 7000 in six years! And that does not mean that London has fewer jobs today. in fact, employment in the UK financial industry is sharply up. It just means that seven thousand financial companies have registered a PO box or a "desk" in the EU to comply with EU regulations.
Oh, and unemployment in the EU is now 6.8% compared to 3.9% in the UK.

12 comments, page 1 of 2

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