Putin gives French Danone’s business in Russia to Kadyrov’s nephew

The 32-year-old nephew of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov has been handed control of the Russian operations of Danone, after the Kremlin seized control of the French food maker’s local business.

Yakub Zakriev, a deputy prime minister of Chechnya and its agriculture minister, has been named general director of Danone Russia, official documents show.

Mr Zakriev is the son of the elder sister of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has referred to his relative as “dear nephew” on social media.

Mr Kadyrov is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has publicly supported the war in Ukraine.

The appointment of the regional warlord’s nephew to run Danone Russia comes after Putin signed a decree on Sunday officially seizing control of the business, which owns brands such as Alpro, Actimel, and Evian.

The Kremlin has been taking over the local operations of many Western businesses that have chosen to flee the country following the invasion of Ukraine.

Putin’s allies have been jockeying to take control of the most lucrative assets.

Russia also seized the local operations of Carlsberg over the weekend and two other allies of the Russian leader, Yuri and Mikhail Kovalchuk, have signalled their interest in Carlsberg’s Baltika subsidiary, according to the Financial Times.

Mr Zakriev, who studied economics at Moscow State University, has worked in the Chechen government on and off since 2013 in different roles, according to local media.

Chechnya’s minister for national policy, Akhmed Dudayev, said Mr Zakriev had “huge experience of working in the most responsible positions.”

He said on Telegram: “Choosing him as general director of Danone Russia shows that representatives of the team of Chechen President and Hero of Russia Ramzan Akhmatovich Kadyrov are talented and successful managers.”

Danone said last October it would relinquish control of its dairy food business in Russia at a cost of up to €1bn.

Putin has claimed Russia doesn’t need the West and will depend on its own vast resources as well as allies such as China.

Tags: Russia, Carlsberg, Danon