Investigative journalists managed to establish that the Auchan hypermarket chain supplied goods to the enemy military, making it out as “humanitarian aid.” All evidence points to the fact that the Russian branch, despite objections, knew that it was helping the Kremlin to provide the militants with everything they needed.
It should be noted that after the publication of the investigation, the press service of “Auchan” objected that they helped the Kremlin, because they allegedly “did not know” that their humanitarian aid was sent to the front. However, everything indicates that this is an outright lie.
There are many questions, but the answer is one: “Auchan” knew everything
Actually, the press service of “Auchan” admitted that this order was made by the city council of St. Petersburg. However, a logical question arises: why was it issued to ten private companies that do not formally belong to the city authorities. However, it is not clear:
- why these ten companies were selected by the Moscow management of Auchan;
- why the documents confirming the receipt of these goods bear the signature of one person – E. A. Safronov;
Why would “Auchan” and the St. Petersburg mayor's office arrange the supplies so that they look like a purchase of private companies? Not because these “purchases” were fictitious and were an attempt to hide supplies for the Ministry of Defense in order to avoid sanctions, The Insider says.
Actually, no matter how “Auchan” claimed that he did not know the final recipient of the goods, however, the employees and managers of “Auchan” on the company's territory pasted “humanitarian aid” tags on the packages of goods. And here's the interesting thing: there is nothing for women and children on the “help” list, although there are razors and cigarettes.
Note! As the investigators noted, at least two representatives of the companies through which Auchan issued this “aid” confirmed that they knew who this “humanitarian aid” was actually for. At the same time, the officials themselves from the St. Petersburg mayor's office openly stated that this “help” was sent to the Russian Defense Ministry.
In addition, The Insider journalists noted that the question remains whether the French leadership of Auchan knew that its Russian unit was collecting “humanitarian aid” for the soldiers of Putin's army. However, they also suggested that it would be strange if no one “knew” anything about it.
NAPC recognized “Auchan” as a sponsor of the war
- The National Anti-Corruption Agency called Auchan a company that finances the war and promotes mobilization in Russia. Actually, the Ukrainian state body has included a chain of stores in the list of international sponsors of terrorism.
- At the same time, military expert Oleg Zhdanov, commenting on this decision of the NAPC, stated that every year the Auchan company paid huge taxes to the Russian budget.
- According to him, in 2020 alone, Auchan paid $167 million to the treasury of an enemy state. For this money, you can buy 15 Su-25 aircraft, 42 tanks, 222 Caliber missiles or 477,000 AK-74 assault rifles.
