Danone Rossiya (AO Danon Rossiya) was the Russian subsidiary of the French multinational food-products company. It was nationalised by the Russian state in July 2023, rebranded as H&N – Health & Nutrition – in September 2023, and transferred to the control of the Kadyrov regime in Chechnya in March 2024.

Danone Rossiya’s annual revenue in 2022 was RUB 122.7 bn ($1.67bn) and it owned 12 factories, together valued at approximately €1 billion (Kavkaz Realii, 2025).

Acquisition by the Kadyrov regime

In the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Danone – whose annual revenue from its Russian operations was RUB 122.7 bn ($1.67bn) in early 2022 – did not plan to leave the Russian market. However, in October 2022, it decided to sell the milk part of its business (Kavkaz Realii, 2025).

Danone’s sale of its Russian subsidiary was put on hold in July 2023, when Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree placing the subsidiary under the control of the Federal State Property Agency (Rosimushchestvo), effectively nationalising the company (Government of Russia, 2023). Within a couple of days, Yakub Zakriyev, a relative of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was appointed general director. In September 2023, the company was renamed H&N.

In March 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelled the company’s nationalisation and announced that a sale had been agreed (Government of Russia, 2024). The purchaser was Vamin-R, a company set up in September 2023 and owned by Vamin Tatarstan (99%) and Ruslan Alisultanov (1%) – another associate of the Chechen leader (Interfax, 2024; Danone, 2024). Vamin-R paid a reported RUB 9.9 bn for the company (Kavkaz Realii, 2025). Danone recorded a loss of €1.2 bn on its accounts. Shortly after the sale was concluded in May 2024, Alisultanov acquired full control of the company by also acquiring full ownership of Vamin-Tatarstan (renamed Yunimilk) (Interfax, 2024).

An investigation by Sistema, a joint project of RFE/RL and Nastoyashcheye Vremya, claimed that the deal had been facilitated by Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitriy Patrushev, the son of Putin ally and former Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev. Dmitriy Patrushev had originally sought control of the business and his ministry needed to confirm the deal; the deal proceeded and Zakriyev assumed control of Danone Rossiya after Patrushev visited Groznyy. The investigation argued that the Kadyrov regime had effectively acquired the company for free, because the deal was financed using money from subsidiaries of Danone Rossiya. After the acquisition, the Kadyrov regime began to withdraw money — according to its accounts, RUB 1 bn in 2023 and RUB 1.6 bn in 2024 – and shares from it. The article suggested that Danone acquiesced in the deal for two reasons: first, it still has considerable assets in Russia (the baby food part of its business) and, second, it hopes to reacquire the milk production assets if it is ever able to return to Russia. Danone did not respond to requests for comment (Kavkaz Realii, 2025; see also Financial Times, 2023 for Patrushev’s interest in the assets).

Leadership

General Director: Ibragim Zakriyev (July 2023-date)
General Director: Charlie Cappetti (April 2017-July 2023)

Information on the company’s board of directors is not publicly available, but members reported by the media include Vladimir Skvortsov, Mintimer Mingazov, Yakov Khachanyan, and Charlie Cappetti.