Yahoo Finance Decathlon's French owner finally closes Russian stores
Decathlon will close its stores in Russia days after Kyiv called for a boycott of French companies still operating in the country.
Hundreds of Western companies have closed shops or suspended their activities in Russia since Moscow invaded late last month, but others including major French businesses have remained.
The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenksy, used an address to the French parliament last week to call out French companies still operating in Russia.
Carmaker Renault subsequently announced an immediate suspension of operations at its Moscow factory but others have stayed put.
On Sunday, Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba called for a global boycott of retail giant Auchan as well as DIY retailer Leroy Merlin and Decathlon, all of which are owned by the Mulliez family.
"In the dramatic context of Ukraine, we are following the evolution of events and particularly the situation of those directly affected," Decathlon said.
"In strict compliance with international sanctions, Decathlon notes that the supply conditions are no longer met to continue its activity in Russia. Decathlon has to suspend the operation of its stores."
Earlier this month The Telegraph reported that the owner of Decathlon had been accused of profiting from Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine after setting out plans for a major Russian expansion of Leroy Merlin.
The family, with a €42bn (£35bn) fortune, aimed to fill the vacuum left by western rivals such as Ikea after they pulled out of Russia.
The move comes as Bloomberg has finally cut off access to its financial data terminals in Russia and Belarus more than a month after Putin launched his invasion.
The data giant said customers in the two countries will be unable to access any of Bloomberg’s financial products, including its terminals, electronic trading platforms and data feeds.
It added that the ability to trade a range of Russian securities has also been disabled in accordance with international sanctions.
Russian stocks were removed from Bloomberg’s global equity indexes on March 9, the company said, while its bonds will be removed from fixed-income indexes at the month-end rebalancing.
Bloomberg provides live market data to hundreds of thousands of customers globally and its terminals have become ubiquitous on trading floors around the world.
However, the suspension comes two weeks after its main rival Refinitiv, which is owned by the London Stock Exchange Group, suspended its products and services in the country.
Combined, the two companies have more than half the global financial data market. LSEG bought Refinitiv for $27bn (£19.5bn) at the beginning of last year.
LSEG said: "We continue to support our employees in the region. We are also engaging with our customers outside Russia who depend on us for data and pricing information inside Russia. We are evaluating alternative options to continue providing these services."
Bloomberg’s slow response also comes after Kyrylo Shevchenko, governor of Ukraine’s central bank, wrote to Peter Grauer, chairman of Bloomberg, and Antonio De Gregorio, head of central and eastern Europe at LSEG, earlier this month urging them to terminate access to their platforms in the two countries.
“Bloomberg and Refinitiv trading and data platforms are the key players in providing data and information in the global financial market,” he said.
“It means that banning Russian and Belarussian financial institutions from these platforms will cripple their access to the international financial markets. It is a very important stage of counteracting military aggression at the financial forefront.”
Access to Bloomberg.com, the company’s media arm, will not be affected by the suspension.
