They are, according to him, the “sponsors of the Russian war machine”. Renault, Auchan, but also Leroy Merlin were cited by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, this Wednesday, March 23, during a speech broadcast by videoconference to French deputies and senators, like the large French companies which continue their activities in Russia. “Everyone will remember that values are worth more than profits”, he warned of these companies which must “stop financing the murder of children and women, rape”, in Ukraine.
Shortly after this intervention, Leroy Merlin, via its parent company Adeo, nevertheless confirmed the maintenance of its activities with the Russian aggressor. A closure would be considered a “premeditated bankruptcy”, argues the group, “opening the way to an expropriation which would strengthen the financial means of Russia”. On the other hand, Adeo decided from the start of the conflict to suspend new investments, he told AFP. How long will this position hold? The pressure has increased considerably on Leroy Merlin in recent days.
A petition in Ukraine
The brand has become the spearhead of the disputes against the Mulliez Association to which Adeo belongs, very present in Russia thanks to Auchan and Decathlon (400 stores in total). On Saturday March 19, a demonstration took place in Gdansk, Poland, against the maintenance of the DIY specialist in Russia. Four days earlier, in France, elected environmentalists had also gone to the head office of Auchan, in the suburbs of Lille, to call on the various brands of the Mulliez group to suspend their activity in Russia.
But an event came to increase the tensions. On Sunday March 20, one of its stores located in the huge “Retroville” shopping center in kyiv was blown up by a bombardment. The next day, the employees of its Ukrainian branch demanded that the brand, in return, cease its activities in Russia. “Leroy Merlin Russia is one of the 10 largest taxpayers of the Russian state budget, says their petition, collecting around 15,000 signatures to date. Every ruble paid into the Russian state budget in the form of taxes helps the aggressor to supply its army and kills even more Ukrainians, including pregnant women and children, some of whom are still in occupied territories in crisis humanitarian.”
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense had itself claimed that Leroy Merlin had become “the first company in the world to finance the bombing of its own stores and to kill its own employees”, implying the death of an employee of Leroy Merlin in Ukraine, information so far unconfirmed.
Anonymous on the offensive
Since this event, the channel has received a lot of attention. A feeling reinforced by the weight of Leroy Merlin in Russia. The chain is the heavyweight of DIY in Russia, where it employs more than 36,000 people in 62 cities of the country, within 107 hypermarkets (against only 6, in Ukraine). This is quite simply its second most important market after France.
Leroy Merlin had also been congratulated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a television interview dated March 16, as one of his major companies having chosen to remain, conversely , in the same sector, of the Swedish giant Ikea.
On social networks, calls to boycott the brand are flourishing. The Anonymous lead the revolt. The famous group of international hackers has devoted a visual dedicated to Leroy Merlin, and includes Adeo in a list of companies and international groups threatened with cyberattacks if they do not cease their activities in Russia.
Employees “hostage”
Difficult to say if these actions are likely to influence the position of Leroy Merlin. “We are holding the employees of French groups hostage. Gas is 750 million dollars a day. Are families the ones who have to pay the consequences of non-action by European states?”, s questioned, Tuesday, March 22, Jean-Marc Cicuto, CFTC union representative of the sign, on franceinfo.
“I heard (…) that French companies were urged to give up their stakes in Russian companies. This means that in reality the Russians are going to be even more enriched. We leave them the shares for zero euros; all of this makes no sense,” said National Rally (RN) candidate Marine Le Pen, received by Vladimir Putin in 2017 and whose party continues to repay a loan. to a Russian creditor.
The real blow, for Leroy Merlin, in Russia, could in fact come from the hyperinflation which threatens consumers there. “The most exposed are those who do not sell basic necessities, such as Leroy Merlin and Decathlon. Because to compensate for their loss of purchasing power, consumers will first give up sports equipment or home furnishings. house before tightening the belt on food”, underlined in this regard Jean-Philippe Bernard, Risk advisory & compliance partner of the firm RSM, a fortnight ago, at L’Express. Not to mention the risk of a boycott hovering over all companies from countries that are currently punishing Russia for its intervention in Ukraine. France is obviously one of them.