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statement on November 3. Like-for-like sales fell by 2.2%.
Russian clothes retailer Gloria Jeans plans to launch 50–100 free standing stores of its clothes for teenagers and young people Ready! Steady! Go! in 2024, a representative for the company told PRIME on November 9. "Gloria Jeans will launch 50–100 standalone stores under the new brand Ready! Steady! Go! for teenagers and young people aged 10–20. The stores’ combined area will amount to 600–800 square meters," the representative said. The retailer also plans to repair 200 currently open stores under the Gloria Jeans brand and expand their area to 1,500–2,000 square meters from 600–800 square meters.
Russian nationals involved in the de-facto nationalisation of French dairy major Danone and Danish brewer Carlsberg could be sanctioned under proposals put forward by the European Commission, according to Politico’s report citing a draft of the latest sanction plans. As covered by bne IntelliNews, in July 2023 Russia in effect nationalised two major players in the brewery and dairy markets, Danone and Carlsberg. The EU now could be able to target people or bodies “benefiting from the compulsory transfer of ownership or control over entities established in Russia, which were previously owned or controlled by Union persons,” according to the text cited by Politico.
Carlsberg decided to sue for Baltika. So far, he is the only one of the companies with nationalized assets to bring the dispute to the public plane Interfax wrote on November 9 that Carlsberg entered into correspondence with Russian officials and warned them of its intention to sue over the nationalized Baltika. The beer concern follows the legal procedure to go to court, it follows from the publication. The transfer of Baltika to the management of the Federal Property Management Agency by order of Vladimir Putin took place in mid-July, much to the shock of Carlsberg. The company decided to challenge it almost immediately. In early August, Carlsberg sent a letter to Russian officials with a preliminary qualification of their actions (violation of obligations under the bilateral investment agreement and public international law) and a demand for compensation for losses and damages. The Ministry of Finance responded at the end of September: the presidential decree is based on current Russian legislation, there are no grounds for compensation. On October 13, Carlsberg sent officials a “notice of dispute,” based on Russia’s international treaties, proposing a negotiated settlement and characterizing the authorities’ actions as “illegal expropriation.” If negotiations are unsuccessful, Carlsberg reserves the right to refer the dispute to an international arbitration court six months from the date of the letter.
114 RUSSIA Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com