Breaking News · Russia–Ukraine War · Corporate Property · Sanctions Retaliation · Rule of Law · DINA Analysis
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has placed the Russian businesses of several Western manufacturers under state-appointed temporary management, expanding a wartime system that has already been used to take control of major foreign-owned operations and later force some into sales to Russian buyers.
A presidential decree published Thursday covers the Russian operations associated with French flooring maker Tarkett, German packaging maker Menshen, Sweden-linked packaging business Sverige International Holdings, Belgian hygiene-products maker Ontex and Eviosys, a former European metal-packaging company acquired by U.S.-based Sonoco in 2024, according to the decree as reviewed by Reuters and other news organizations.
What is confirmed: the decree transferred specified shares and ownership stakes into temporary management by Russian entities. Reuters reported that the affected operations include Tarkett plants and Russian packaging and hygiene-products businesses. The legal designation is temporary management, not a final court-ordered confiscation.
What is attributed: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the companies' countries of origin were relevant and described the action as part of Russia's response to what Moscow calls hostile European conduct connected with the war in Ukraine. That retaliation rationale is the Kremlin's position; it is not an independent legal finding against the companies.
What remains unclear: the decree does not by itself establish whether the businesses will ultimately return to their owners, be sold, be transferred permanently or generate compensation. Reuters reported that affected companies were assessing the order. DINA has not independently verified the value of every operation or any claimed wrongdoing by the companies.
A mechanism labeled temporary can produce lasting loss
Russia created the temporary-administration framework in 2023 after Western governments froze Russian assets and companies began withdrawing following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The measure formally places management rights—not necessarily legal title—with an administrator selected under Russian authority.
That distinction matters, but prior cases show why owners and workers cannot assume the intervention will be brief. Russian operations of Danone and Carlsberg were placed under temporary administration and later transferred through sales to new owners. Similar action in September affected Nestlé and Auchan. Reuters, citing a 2025 estimate from Moscow law firm NSP, previously reported that more than $50 billion in private property had been seized by the Russian state since the invasion began.
The new decree also illustrates how ownership chains complicate the policy. Eviosys was acquired by American packaging group Sonoco, while the decree reportedly identifies a Dutch unit in the ownership structure. A measure presented as retaliation against Europe can therefore reach assets ultimately connected to a U.S. parent.
Why it matters
The order deepens the separation between Russia and Western capital while increasing the risk for companies that retained factories, employees or supply chains in Russia. It also raises the stakes in the wider dispute over frozen Russian sovereign assets held in Europe and proposals to use their proceeds—or the assets themselves—to finance Ukraine.
For workers and local suppliers, a change in control can alter management, contracts and the destination of profits even when factories continue operating. For shareholders, the central question is whether “temporary” administration preserves an enterprise or becomes a pathway to a discounted forced sale.
DINA editorial analysis — progressive accountability
The following is DINA editorial analysis, not a statement of independently established fact.
Governments at war often describe economic retaliation as necessary and reversible. The accountability test is whether owners receive notice, a meaningful chance to challenge the action, transparent valuation and compensation if control becomes permanent. A presidential decree that transfers operating control to little-known managers without an independent adjudication does not provide the same safeguards as an ordinary insolvency, sanctions or eminent-domain process.
Western governments also owe the public a clear legal account of how frozen Russian state assets differ from private corporate property. Blurring those categories encourages reciprocal seizures and leaves workers, pension funds and minority investors carrying costs created by states.
Strongest accountability angle
The immediate accountability question is who benefits. Public disclosure should identify each appointed manager's owners, political relationships, compensation, authority over cash and assets, and any subsequent buyer. Without that information, “temporary management” can conceal a transfer of value to favored insiders while insulating the decision from ordinary judicial review.
Urgent follow-up and public-records requests
- Obtain and translate the full October 15 decree, including every annex, shareholding percentage, appointed administrator and legal citation.
- Request ownership, director and beneficial-owner records for each Russian entity appointed to manage the businesses.
- Ask Tarkett, Menshen, Ontex, Sonoco and the Sverige International Holdings-linked operation for the book value, workforce, production capacity and current control status of each affected unit.
- Request any diplomatic protests, investment-treaty claims or sanctions reviews filed by France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, the United States or the European Union.
- Track changes in directors, contracts, dividends, debt, procurement and asset sales after the decree.
- Seek worker and union accounts of any changes to wages, staffing, safety or collective-bargaining rights under the appointed managers.
Sources
- Reuters — Russia takes over more EU companies' assets over Ukraine support, October 16, 2026
- Official Internet Portal of Legal Information of the Russian Federation — presidential decrees and official publication record
- Meduza — decree summary citing the official legal-publication portal, October 16, 2026
- Reuters — background on Russia's September temporary-management orders and the broader seizure framework, September 18, 2026