Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian Auchan has been helping the Russian occupiers. They transferred goods for the invaders to the occupied territories of Ukraine.
About it 24 Kanala said Roman Dobrokhotov, editor-in-chief of The Insider. He shared the details of a joint investigation with Le Monde and Bellingcat about the help of the Russian Auchan for the occupiers.
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The Russian “Auchan” organized the transfer of goods from its warehouses to the invaders fighting against Ukraine. Help was not for civilians in the occupied territories, but for the invaders. They handed over T-shirts, socks, razors, cigarettes, lighters. It was all positioned as “humanitarian aid”.
According to Dobrokhotov, we are talking about systematic and large-scale cooperation. For example, only from St. Petersburg it is known about dozens of tons of shipments of various products.
These were deliveries specifically for the Russian military, which was not very hidden. Everything was arranged through small intermediaries, so that it looked like a purchase. When we called the companies through which Auchan negotiated agreements, some of the directors frankly said that it was for the Russian military,
Dobrokhotov noted.
In addition, everything happened centrally in cooperation with the Russian authorities. For example, in St. Petersburg, the local governor Alexander Beglov joined in.
Could the French leadership of “Auchan” not know about this help
As Dobrokhotov said, other holding companies also helped the Russian military. Known about Leroy Merlin. He suggests that the French leadership could not have been unaware of such cooperation.
If this is both Auchan and Leroy Merlin, then it means that the entire holding participated in these deliveries. The French leadership, working for the French family, could not have been unaware of this (the Mullier family – Channel 24),
Dobrokhotov remarked.
Interestingly, the Russian Auchan began to cooperate with the military even before the full-scale invasion. In January 2022, management began collecting information from its employees about their military IDs. Subsequently, all this was transferred to the military registration and enlistment offices.
How the Russian “Auchan” helps the occupiers: watch the video
And after the start of mobilization, they did everything possible so that the employees received summons and left for the front. This was not recorded in any other Russian retail chains. Also, no one made collection points for volunteer assistance for the occupiers on the basis of their stores.
We see this only in Auchan. It is clear that at the very least, the Russian leadership of Auchan took an active initiative and cooperated with the Ministry of Defense and local officials to help the Russian troops,
Dobrokhotov emphasized.
In his opinion, if after that Auchan remains in Russia and does not fall under sanctions, it will be very strange. After all, the French authorities consider themselves an ally of Ukraine, and here, in parallel, the Russian Auchan is helping the occupiers.
Why does the Russian “Auchan” help the invaders
As Dobrokhotov suggested, the logic here is very simple. This is greed and cynicism. In his opinion, the French leadership instructed the Russian management to be as loyal as possible and cooperate with the authorities.
Accordingly, they took up this matter very carefully. It is especially outrageous that Auchan’s competitors did nothing of the kind. Accordingly, there would be no harm to the company if they did not do this.
They decided to curry favor in order, apparently, to receive preferences from local officials. Even the Auchan employees were not enthusiastic about this … I have almost no doubt that after the investigation, there will be no Auchan in Russia. I expect that serious financial sanctions will be imposed on the company – on the French “Auchan” from the French authorities,
Dobrokhotov says.
Russian “Auchan” supports the invaders
- Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian Auchan has been supporting the occupiers. This is stated in the investigation of The Insider together with Le Monde and Bellingcat.
- It turns out that the so-called “humanitarian aid” for the occupiers was recruited from the Ashanov warehouses in Russia. And also – from the goods that volunteers collected on the territory of the network of these stores in different regions of the country.
- Auchan also helped the military registration and enlistment offices to recruit mobilized from their employees. Read the details of the investigation at the link.
