Heineken Jettisons Russian Beer Business

After promising to do so for nearly a year and a half, Heineken finally followed through on their promise and sold off their Russian beer business for €1 – to Russian-owned Arnest, an aerosol can maker.

The Dutch brewer will absorb a loss of €300 million – nearly $325 million – on the “sale”.

Many Western companies had already exited or ceased their Russian operations when the country invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

According to the company, Heineken lager was removed from Russian sale in 2022 but Amstel was not and that brand will now be phased out over the next six months.

Last month, Russian despot Vladimir Putin seized Russian assets owned by Danish brewer, Carlsberg.