Volodymyr Zelensky urged, this Wednesday, before the French Parliament, French companies established in Russia to stop supporting the Russian "
war machine
" and to leave this country.
Some of them pride themselves on not suspending their activities so as not to condemn their teams on the spot.
Le Figaro
takes stock of the number of employees employed by large French companies in Russia.
The leading employer in Russia, the Mulliez family association, which owns the Auchan, Leroy Merlin and Decathlon brands, has decided to stay there, justifying its choice by the need to support their employees and supply the Russian population.
Leroy Merlin broke his silence for the first time since the start of the war.
“We have no reason to condemn our Russian teams for a war they did not choose.
Closing the company overnight, closing our stores would simply be an abandonment considered as a premeditated bankruptcy, therefore illegal, paving the way for an expropriation, which would strengthen the financial means of Russia”,
assures the sign.
In addition, Adeo, the holding company of Leroy Merlin had declared to have a "
employer responsibility vis-à-vis (its) 45,000 employees and their families who have contributed for 18 years to the construction of Leroy Merlin Russia
”, where the brand has 113 stores.
“Cease sales to Russia”
Employees of the Ukrainian branch of Leroy Merlin asked, on Monday, the French brand specializing in DIY, as well as the other brands of the Mulliez family association (AFM) present in Russia, Auchan and Decathlon, to cease their activities there, while a Leroy Merlin store was bombed Sunday evening in kyiv.
The official Instagram account of Leroy Merlin in Ukraine "
leroymerlin.ua
" posted a photo of the bombed store in Kiev on Sunday evening on Monday with the words "
stop sales in Russia
" and a link to an online petition on the site "
openpetition. eu
” asking Adeo to cease its activities in Russia.
For its part, the French car manufacturer Renault, whose board of directors met on Wednesday evening, announced that it was suspending the activities of its Moscow factory, which employs 1,800 people.
But Renault also operates in Russia through the Russian automaker AvtoVAZ, of which it owns 68%, alongside Rostec, the state-owned military-industrial conglomerate (32%).
Renault is currently studying options to withdraw from AvtoVAZ without laying off employees and without being preempted by the Russian state.
Read alsoWar in Ukraine: withdrawing from Russia, a delicate operation for Renault
The BlaBlaCar carpooling platform, very present in Russia where it also operates buses, has chosen to stay in the country but will stop investing there.
"
BlaBlaCar maintains on-site service, but isolates its activity in Russia from the rest of the company and cancels all development projects related to this market
," the French company said in a statement, saying "
(assume) its responsibility for employer to protect the 100 employees of its subsidiary and its community
".