After the start of the war in Ukraine, the Belgian-Brazilian group AB Inbev announced that it was ceasing all its activities in Russia. A contract with another Turkish brewer, however, forced him to resume beer production.
It all started with the tweet from the Belgian-Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce in Russia. “The brewing company AB Inbev Efes has launched the production of the Belgian beer Leffe Blonde et Brune in Russia. The beer will be produced at the sites of Ulyanovsk, Kaluga, Omsk, Volzhsky, Saransk, Klin and Ivanovo.”
7 factories have been chosen to produce the emblematic Belgian beer. But in the middle of the war, the choice of Russian soil quickly caused a reaction. Starting with the former first lady of Ukraine Kateryna Yushchenko. “Oh AB Inbev, not very elegant to support genocide. Western Europeans like to lecture others about corruption as they themselves choose money over morality. Boycott Leffe beer”she wrote on Twitter.
Except that here, we are talking about two very distinct companies. The first is AB Inbev, a Belgian-Brazilian brewing group and original producer of Leffe. The second is AB Inbev Efes which is actually a joint venture, a company created by the equal collaboration of two entities, namely AB Inbev and Anadolu Efes, the Turkish brewer. Originally, this collaboration was intended to satisfy the Russian-Ukrainian market fond of Belgian beers, but that was before the war.
When the first attacks on Ukrainian soil were announced, AB Inbev announced that it wanted to suspend its activity in Russia and wanted to sell its shares in the joint venture. Today, the sale has not yet been concluded and discussions are ongoing.
“The suspension of the license to sell certain brands is part of the ongoing transaction discussions with Anadolu Efes. As previously announced, AB Inbev also forgoes any financial benefit from the operations of the joint venture,” said the AB Inbev spokeswoman.
The Belgian brewer would therefore not receive anything from the Russian production of Leffe. But will it really be launched? The question remains unanswered today.