COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Russian authorities on Wednesday detained two employees from Carlsberg’s Russian brewery, Baltika Breweries, over allegations of fraud, and made similar claims against several others, Danish brewer Carlsberg told Reuters on Thursday.
The company said in a statement the allegations were “fake”.
Moscow in July took control of Carlsberg’s stake in Baltika through a presidential decree, saying it would put the foreign-owned stake under “temporary management.”
CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen last month said Russia had “stolen” its business, adding the group had cut all ties with its Russian business and refuses to enter a deal with Russia’s government that would make its seizure of the assets look legitimate.
“It is appalling that the efforts of the Russian state to justify their illegal takeover of our business in Russia has now evolved into targeting innocent employees,” Carlsberg said in a statement.
“The allegations reported in Russian media are fake,” it added.
Russian media reported the Baltika employees had been detained in St Petersburg. Police in St Petersburg could not immediately be reached.
Baltika in Russia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Johannes Gotfredsen-Birkebaek in Copenhagen and Alexander Marrow in London, writing by Louise Rasmussen, Editing by Bernadette Baum)
