Fazer has developed a complex scheme for leaving Russia

On March 28, the Fazer group (Finland) officially confirmed the brand's departure from RUSSIA. A message on the company's website states that the business will be sold or transferred to a new owner or local operator. Whether Fazer will retain ownership of these assets, the company did not specify. The press service of the Russian representative office of Fazer RBC Petersburg reported that they did not have information about the potential owner of the production facilities.

Complex break

The Fazer Group notes that the process of exiting the Russian market is complicated due to legal provisions prohibiting the reduction in the production of basic food products or taking actions leading to the termination of the activities of such companies. As RBC Petersburg wrote earlier, some Finnish international companies faced a drop in their own share prices and condemnation due to indecision in leaving Russia. Thus, after the share price fell by 12%, the Finnish company Nokian Renkaat, which owns a large plant for the production of car tires Nokian Tires in Vsevolozhsk, announced the termination of investments in Russia.

Against this background, the Fazer Group assures that it has cut off ties with a Russian subsidiary and is doing everything to exit as soon as possible "in accordance with the law and sanctions."

No visible signs

The first step will be to change the company's legal name: Fazer LLC will be renamed into Khlebny Dom LLC. “This is part of the exit process,” the company said. "The name must be changed before ownership is transferred." In this way, Fazer protects its brand from being used in Russia.

Since 2002, Fazer has owned a controlling stake in the well-known St. Petersburg bakery Khlebny Dom. Until 2013, almost all products of the Smolenskaya, Murinskaya and Vasileostrovskaya production sites were produced under this brand, today the product line with this name includes several types of bread, pastry, frozen dough, gingerbread, crackers and dryers. Certain Fazer-branded product lines, such as Stroiny Recipe yeast-free bread or Bourget whole grain bread, as well as frozen bakery products, will continue to be available to customers in Russia under new own brands.