When it became known that "Cēsu alus" was purchasing the brewery "Valmiermuižas alus," not only beer lovers but many others sighed with regret: yet another successful Latvian enterprise was absorbed by a large foreign business. However, even more unpleasant was the news that the concern behind this deal continues its operations in Belarus, writes Latvijas Avīze.
The owner of "Cēsu alus" is the Finnish concern "Olvi," which has not ceased operations in Belarus despite the fact that the regime of dictator Alexander Lukashenko supports Russia's aggression. Moreover, the scale of this activity is quite significant - nearly a quarter of "Olvi"'s revenues come from Belarus.
In August of last year, the concern reported that for the first six months of 2024, it generated revenues of 42.2 million euros, including 16.6 million in Belarus. In this country, the concern has a subsidiary, "Lidskoe Pivo," which employs about 900 people. According to the 2024 report, the total net turnover of "Olvi" amounted to 656.9 million euros, with a profit after tax of 62.4 million, while the turnover of "Lidskoe Pivo" was 151.5 million euros, and the profit, by rough estimates, was about 19.97 million euros.
It is evident that Belarus is an important profit market for "Olvi." In 2022, after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the company announced that it would leave the Belarusian market; however, it appears that it did not do so. "Latvijas Avīze" was unable to obtain a comment from "Cēsu alus" regarding the activities of its main shareholder "Olvi" in Belarus. Many Finnish media outlets have also reported on "Olvi"'s operations in Belarus.
It should be noted that Western sanctions against Russia and Belarus do not apply to the food industry, so the enterprise is not violating the sanctions regime. The head of "Olvi," Patrick Lundell, justified in the media that the situation was complicated and the company could not leave Belarus, as at the end of 2022, Minsk adopted a law prohibiting the sale of shares owned by Western owners.
"The sales process was initiated and was successfully progressing in the first six months. Then the laws changed - first regarding sales, then dividends and profit transfers," he explained in August 2024 to the Finnish broadcasting company "Yle."
The Belarusian government included this enterprise in the list of strategic enterprises, for the alienation of which state permission is required. It was not possible to obtain it, so the sale of the enterprise became impossible.
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