Russia Seizes Nestlé and Auchan Businesses, Then Offers European Firms "Favorable Conditions" to Stay

Russia says it will create "favorable conditions" for European companies still operating in the country, a promise that comes just one month after the Kremlin took control of the Russian businesses of Nestlé and Auchan [271718]. In a state TV interview, a Kremlin leader said Russia's friends in Europe "nearly cried" when European companies had to leave — even as his decrees handed the Russian businesses of firms that stayed to Kremlin-picked managers [271718].

The contradictory messaging has raised concerns among allies about the consistency of Western policy toward Moscow. In just two weeks, the United States sanctioned the international court prosecuting Vladimir Putin, waived its own sanctions on Russia, and described the Russian president as "humanitarian" [271706]. The sequence has prompted questions about Washington's shifting posture toward Moscow as Brussels prepares to host security talks on Ukraine on 27 or 28 October [271706].

Meanwhile, scrutiny of Russian financial networks continues to expand. Police in Cyprus have opened an investigation into the financial and tax affairs of Roman Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea Football Club, following a report that aides of the Russian oligarch appeared to have falsified paperwork related to his businesses [268605]. A senior police official told a committee hearing in the Cypriot parliament that officers are examining events between 2003 and 2006, and the investigation is expected to last several months [268605]. The probe adds new scrutiny to the businessman's professional advisers, whose integrity was questioned earlier this month [269466].

Separately, interviews and documents have revealed that a Russian energy giant secretly financed a U.S. company, with the hidden funding tied to an Alaska gas project — a deal that has come up in talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine [269733].