The Kremlin said on Monday it had no knowledge of a request by a Siberian brewer to seize the Russian assets of Coca-Cola HBC, the Europe-focused bottler part-owned by the US drinks giant, in a rare piece of reassurance for a Western company still operating in Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters at his daily briefing that he was not aware of any such request, according to Reuters. His remarks sent Coca-Cola HBC’s London-listed shares up by more than 4%.
Russian newspaper Kommersant reported last Thursday that beer maker Bochkari had written to President Vladimir Putin asking for the bottler’s Russian assets to be placed under temporary management, and for Bochkari itself to be appointed as temporary manager. The report sent Coca-Cola HBC’s shares down 18% before they steadied on Friday.
Bochkari’s letter reportedly cited Coca-Cola’s sponsorship of global sporting events from which Russian athletes are barred because of the war in Ukraine as one of its justifications. Bochkari, owned by businessman Vadim Smagin, did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Coca-Cola HBC said on 5 November that it had received no notification from the Russian authorities of any change to its operations in the country, which it said had been run on a self-standing basis since 2022. Coca-Cola, the US company that owns 21% of the Swiss-registered bottler, officially withdrew from Russia that year after the start of the war in Ukraine.
The episode fits a pattern that has unsettled foreign investors. Russia has seized the assets of other foreign businesses in recent months, including French supermarket chain Auchan, Swiss food group Nestle and, most recently, Japan Tobacco. Some of those takeovers were preceded by similar requests from local firms, according to letters leaked to Russian media.
But US-linked companies have largely been spared in the recent wave of seizures, a shift that has followed President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the opening of talks between Washington and Moscow on a settlement in Ukraine last year. The American Chamber of Commerce estimates that some 300 US firms remain in Russia.
For Coca-Cola HBC, the stakes are considerable. Its Russian unit had accumulated more than $1 billion in cash as of 3 July 2026, according to its latest financial report, money it cannot repatriate under current restrictions.
Whether the Kremlin’s denial settles the matter remains to be seen. Mr Peskov said only that the Kremlin was not aware of the request, not that no such request exists, and the fate of other foreign assets has shown that local petitions can surface again through other channels.
Sources: Reuters, “Kremlin not aware of request to seize Coca-Cola HBC’s Russian assets, spokesman says”, 9 November 2026 — https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/kremlin-not-aware-request-seize-coca-cola-hbcs-russian-assets-spokesman-says-2026-11-09/
