Leroy Merlin became the largest foreign company in Russia according to Forbes

The French chain of home goods stores Leroy Merlin took first place in ranking 50 largest foreign companies in Russia, presented by Forbes.

The publication included in the list companies that are more than 50% owned by foreign corporations and individuals; they are ranked by total revenue received last year. Banks and other financial organizations were not included in the rating.

Leroy Merlin’s revenue in 2022 amounted to RUB 529.7 billion. In last year’s ranking, the retailer took 2nd place with revenue of 517 billion rubles. based on the results of 2021. The top three ranking also included tobacco companies JT Group (Japan) with revenue of 432.6 billion rubles. And Philip Morris International (USA, 399.9 billion rubles).

At the end of 2022, the largest revenues were also received by PepsiCo (USA, 303.7 billion rubles), Elo (France, 292.6 billion rubles), VimpelCom/VEON (Netherlands, 286.4 billion rubles), Metro AG (Germany, 223.6 billion rubles), etc.

At the end of March ADEO reported about plans to transfer the business of her Leroy Merlin in Russia to local management. A representative of the retailer, in a conversation with Vedomosti, clarified that the assets will be transferred to “local management represented by the current board of directors of the company.” Now the Leroy Merlin network in Russia includes 111 hypermarkets in 65 cities of Russia. The opening of the first store in the country took place in 2004. The company employs 45,000 people. The retailer ranks 6th in the ranking of the 10 largest chains in Russia.

After the start of the special operation in Ukraine, the largest Western brands announced their withdrawal from the Russian market and suspension of investments. More than 1,000 companies have reported publicly, according to Yale University. After companies began to leave the Russian market, the Ministry of Industry and Trade approved a list of goods for parallel import that can be imported into the Russian Federation without the consent of the manufacturer or copyright holder.

In early January, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that 75.9% of foreign companies remained in Russia. In his opinion, this indicates the faith of business “in the good prospects for the development” of the Russian economy. Later media reportedthat foreign brands that left Russia could lose up to $2 billion.