Swiss Coca-Cola HBC said it had not received any notification from Russian authorities about a possible change in the status of its assets. The response follows reports of a proposal by Altai Buchkari to transfer the business of Multon Partners LLC, a former Russian bottler, to outside management.
Coca-Cola HBC is owned 21% by the Coca-Cola Company. At the same time, its divisions in Russia, as the holding emphasizes, have been operating completely autonomously since 2022 and do not finance the group's foreign activities. The company separates the day-to-day operations of Russian enterprises from the cash flows of international businesses.
We are talking about an initiative that is discussed publicly, and not about a decision approved by the authorities: the holding itself did not receive any notification. However, the proposal for external management raises the key issue for an active business. Who will manage assets and make business decisions. In this border between the autonomy of enterprises and the control of property, a contradiction arose.