The Insider insists that “Ashan” supplied the military of the Russian Federation in Ukraine

The Insider published the second part of the investigation into the alleged participation of the Russian division of the French company “Auchan” in the supply of products and other goods to Russian servicemen in Ukraine.

After the release of the first part of the investigation, which was conducted jointly with the French newspaper Le Monde, the management of “Auchan” published a response in which it denied both participation in these deliveries and the fact that “Auchan” hypermarkets in a number of regions collected aid for those mobilized. The Insider claims that this is not true, and that “Ashan” took “the most active part in disguising deliveries to the Ministry of Defense as ordinary commercial sales to private companies.”

Auchan, in particular, claims that the order in March of last year, which was mentioned in the investigation, was made by the city council of St. Petersburg, and that “there was nothing in the goods ordered during this period that could suggest the specific final recipient” – they turned out to be the Russian military in the occupied territories of Ukraine. The Insider insists that this purchase was made for 10 private companies, for which one person subscribed, and was a conscious attempt to hide the final recipient and circumvent sanctions. At the same time, although according to the documents it was about ordinary commercial purchases, the employees of “Ashan” affixed the labels “humanitarian aid” on the packages, and officials from the St. Petersburg City Hall openly declared that this aid was sent to the Ministry of Defense.

It is also claimed that the volunteers who collected aid for those mobilized in shopping centers in a number of regions thanked the “Ashan” employees for their help.

“Only the question of what the French management of the holding knew about the activities of its Russian division” – writes The Insider.

The first part of the investigation was published on February 17. On the same day, a French company responded to it. “Auchan Retail is extremely surprised by these allegations, which are in no way supported by the results of its own investigation,” the statement said, in particular.

Auchan, which owns a network of hypermarkets in Russia, unlike many other foreign companies, refused to leave Russia after the war.