Heineken blames Russia exit delay on local paperwork, 7 March 2023

Heineken...blamed the delay in its Russia exit on local bureaucracy that it said was beyond its control, and reiterated it still planned to exit the country.

Last month, a story by investigative website Follow The Money questioned whether Heineken had followed through on its March 2022 promise to leave Russia, including selling its non-Heineken international brands like Amstel.

"It's challenging to close a transaction in Russia at the moment as rules continue to shift," the Dutch company said, adding its business transfers required many approvals by local authorities, the time frame of which it could not affect.

The company nonetheless acknowledged frustrations around the delay, saying it shared the sentiment.

"There's no ambiguity about our promise: we will leave Russia," Heineken said...

The brewer also said on its website that its Russian business needed to introduce new local products to avoid bankruptcy until the full disposal was completed, after its products were removed from the market following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.