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French firms under fire for continuing commercial operations in Russia

French firms Auchan, Leroy Merlin and Decathlon have been criticised by Ukrainian officials for continuing to maintain operations in Russia.

Published: 27 March 2022 17:23 CEST

The logo of French retailer Auchan is pictured on a shopping centre in Moscow. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister called on Sunday for people to boycott the supermarket. (Photo by NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Sunday for a global boycott of French retail giant Auchan, with pressure mounting on international brands to quit Russia over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Apparently, job losses in Russia are more important than the loss of life in Ukraine. If Auchan ignores 139 Ukrainian children murdered during this month of Russian invasion, let us ignore Auchan and all their products,” he wrote on Twitter.

Kuleba called for a “boycott” of the retail group as well as French DIY retailer Leroy Merlin and sporting chain Decathlon, all of which operate under the Association Familiale Mulliez.

Auchan CEO Yves Claude this week defended the company’s decision to remain in Russia citing the need to keep staff employed.

“Leaving would be imaginable from an economic point of view, but not from a human point of view,” he told French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

According to its company website, Auchan has 41,000 employees and operates more than 300 stores in Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used an address to France’s parliament last Wednesday to call on French companies still working in Russia to “stop sponsoring” aggression against his country.

He named in particular Auchan, Leroy Merlin and Renault. The car giant subsequently announced an immediate suspension of operations at its Moscow factory.

Member comments

Anonymous - 28 March 2022 at 08:29 CEST

Life goes on and business is business. Just because someone thinks it’s more important to appear on video screens around the world, then throws his toys out of the pram because he cannot get what he wants, then sitting down and finding an end to this conflict. Certainly does not make him a good leader, but someone with a very large ego that is putting himself before his people.

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Macron warns 'mortal' Europe needs credible defence

He described Russia’s behaviour after its invasion of Ukraine as “uninhibited” and said it was no longer clear where Moscow’s “limits” lay.

Macron also sounded the alarm on what he described as disrespect of global trade rules by both Russia and China, calling on the European Union to revise its trade policy.

“Our Europe, today, is mortal and it can die,” he said.

“It can die and this depends only on our choices,” Macron said, warning that Europe was “not armed against the risks we face” in a world where the “rules of the game have changed”.

“Over the next decade… the risk is immense of (Europe) being weakened or even relegated,” he added, also pointing to the risk of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Macron returned to the same themes of a speech he gave in September 2017 months after taking office at the same location – the Sorbonne University in Paris – but in a context that seven years on has been turned upside down by Brexit, Covid and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Macron champions the concept of European strategic autonomy in economy and defence, arguing that Europe needs to face crises like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine without relying on the US.

He urged Europe to be more a master of its own destiny, saying in the past it was over-dependent on Russia for energy and Washington for security.

He said the indispensable “sine qua non” for European security was “that Russia does not win the war of aggression in Ukraine”.

“We need to build this strategic concept of a credible European defence for ourselves,” Macron said, adding Europe could not be “a vassal” of the United States.

He said he would ask European partners for proposals in the next months and added that Europe also needed its own capacity in cyberdefence and cybersecurity.

Macron said preference should be given to European suppliers in the purchase of military equipment and backed the idea of a European loan to finance this effort.

Macron also called for a “revision” of EU trade policy to defend European interests, accusing both China and the United States of no longer respecting the rules of global commerce.

“It cannot work if we are the only ones in the world to respect the rules of trade — as they were written up 15 years ago — if the Chinese and the Americans no longer respect them by subsidising critical sectors.”

Macron is, after Brexit and the departure from power of German chancellor Angela Merkel, often seen by commentators as Europe’s number one leader.

But his party is facing embarrassment in June’s European elections, ranking well behind the far-right in opinion polls and even risking coming third behind the Socialists.

The head of the governing party’s list for the elections, the little-known Valerie Hayer, is failing to make an impact, especially in the face of the high-profile 28-year-old Jordan Bardella leading the far right and Raphael Glucksmann emerging as a new star on the left.

Macron made no reference to the elections in his speech, even though analysts say he is clearly seeking to wade into the campaign, with his speech reading as a manifesto for the continent’s future.

“The risk is that Europe will experience a decline and we are already starting to see this despite all our efforts,” he warned.

“We are still too slow and not ambitious enough,” he added, urging a “powerful Europe”, which “is respected”, “ensures its security” and regains “its strategic autonomy”.

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