Financing the war and contributing to mobilization in the Russian Federation: the French corporation Auchan was included in the list of International sponsors of the war by the NACP

23.02.2023

The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) included the French corporation Auchan Holding in the list of International sponsors of the war. This corporation is now represented in many countries of the world and is one of the largest operators of retail chains, in particular the chain of food hypermarkets Auchan (Auchan). The reason for inclusion in the list of international war sponsors was that, during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company refused to stop financing the terrorist-state and did not close its business in the Russian Federation. Also, thanks to the journalistic investigations of The Insider, Le Monde and Bellingcat, it became known that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Russian subsidiary of the French "Auchan" supplied goods to the Russian military in the occupied Ukrainian territories under the guise of "humanitarian aid", and also helped with the implementation of mobilization measures in the Russian Federation. How did the "Auchan" provide assistance to the occupiers and contribute to the mobilization in Russia? According to the journalists, the lists of goods supplied to the occupied territories allegedly as "humanitarian aid" actually consisted of men's socks, cigarettes (which cannot be supplied as humanitarian aid), lighters and razors, which calls into question the humanitarian purpose of such "aid". In particular, Auchan is directly involved in supporting mobilization in Russia. Thus, the company collected and transmitted to the military commissariat all the necessary information about its employees, after which they could be mobilized directly from the workplace. That is why, "Auchan" represented by "Auchan Russia" is a direct sponsor of the war against Ukraine. «For Auchan, Russia is the second most important sales market after France. Only in 2020, the Russian "Auchan" paid 167 million dollars to the Russian budget. According to journalists' calculations, this is equal to the cost of 15 SU-25 aircraft, 42 tanks, 222 Kalibr missiles, or 477,000 AK-74 assault rifles. We cannot allow Russia to continue receiving these funds, for which it then kills Ukrainians. We want any companies to be ashamed of cooperating with murderers. The reputation institute must work, that's why we included "Auchan" in the list of international sponsors of war», — said Oleksandr Novikov, Head of the NACP. Previously, the NACP had already included the following companies in the list of international sponsors of the war: Procter&Gamble, OpenWay Group, Danieli, TMS Tankers Ltd., Minerva Marine Inc., Thenamaris Ships Management, Delta Tankers Ltd., Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd., Leroy Merlin, ComNav Technology, Mondi Group/Mondi PLC, eKassir, Liberian International Ship & Corporate Registry та Bonduelle. All companies included in this list are included in the World-Check database of the international company London Stock Exchange Group in order to protect the financial sector from Russian war sponsors. The role of the NACP in sanctions policy is defined in the Individual Sanctions Roadmap developed by the Stanford International Working Group on Russian Sanctions.