KitKat maker Nestle removes £1.46bn Russian business from its books after it was seized by Putin's Kremlin

A presidential decree from Vladimir Putin last month put Nestle's Russian operation under 'temporary external administration'. The Swiss food giant insists it 'remains the legal owner' but has lost control of how the business is run. The assets of French supermarket chain Auchan were also taken, in what is thought to be the biggest Kremlin grab of foreign firms since at least 2024. Nestle says the impact on its 2026 underlying results will be limited.

Nestle has operated in Russia since 1995 but scaled back after the Ukraine war began.