Putin seizes more assets of Japanese tobacco giant JTI, media reports
Russian President Vladimir Putin (photo: Getty Images)
Russia has imposed "temporary management" on three more legal entities of Japan Tobacco International. The company's importers and holding entities have come under Moscow's control, Zona.media reports.
The restrictions affected the companies J.T.I. Russia, Pereslavl-Tobacco, and J.T.I. Innovative Products.
Earlier, on November 5, a similar decree affected four other Japan Tobacco International entities that own tobacco factories in St. Petersburg, Yelets, and Rostov-on-Don.
All the newly affected companies were placed under the control of Promyshlennye Aktivy LLC.
According to Kommersant, this is an entity linked to Taimuraz Bolloev, the former head of Baltika and founder of BTK Group.
At the same time, several companies with the same name are registered in Russia.
In particular, another company named Promyshlennye Aktivy was part of Armen Sargsyan's S8 Capital holding company, which has been actively buying up the assets of Western brands after their withdrawal from the Russian market.
About a third of Japan Tobacco International's shares are owned by the Japanese government (37.55%). The country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already lodged a protest with the Russian ambassador over the introduction of "temporary management."
The tobacco giant had operated in Russia since 1999 and became the leader of the Russian market in 2007.
Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the company did not leave the Russian market, although it temporarily froze investments. In 2023, it made a final decision to continue doing business in the country.
The value of the previously nationalized production facilities was estimated at 60 billion rubles (approximately $730 million).
On November 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree introducing "temporary management" over four other legal entities of Japan Tobacco International.
At that time, Russia took control of enterprises involved in processing raw tobacco materials and manufacturing cigarettes in St. Petersburg, Yelets, and Rostov-on-Don.
Also, in the autumn of 2026, Japan imposed a new package of sanctions against Russia in response to its ongoing military aggression against Ukraine and as part of international pressure on the aggressor country.
