Metro's Russian unit under temporary state management sends 1 billion rubles to pro-war fund

The transfer was announced by the People's Front, a movement that has raised money for the army since 2022. Sergei Gorbunov, first deputy head of the organization's executive committee, said the money will buy off-road vehicles, communications and reconnaissance systems, and counter-drone equipment. Metro told Vedomosti that part of the sum will go to humanitarian and social causes.

Metro Russia CEO Johannes Tholey explained the decision: "As part of Russia's economic system, we see it as important to participate in the state's strategic initiatives."

On September 28, Vladimir Putin placed the Russian Metro business under the temporary management of UK Torg Rus, a company solely owned by Tholey. Metro AG said at the time that it formally remained the owner but no longer controlled the Russian company.

A week later, Le Monde reported that Metro itself had asked the Kremlin to introduce temporary management in order to retain more control over its fate. A source at The Bell said the same. According to the newspaper, the company hopes that a display of loyalty will help it secure better terms. The Bell's source predicted at the time that buyers of Western assets would soon be asked to "chip in for the war."

Russia remains a significant market for Metro AG. In the nine months of the 2025/26 financial year, the group's sales in the country rose 10.3% to €2.14 billion, about 8.7% of its revenue, according to Euronews calculations.

Metro is not the first company under temporary management to donate to the fund. The Russian division of Poland's Can-Pack sent 500 million rubles to the People's Front in February and another 1 billion in March. The former subsidiary of Denmark's Rockwool, which came under the control of AO Razvitie Stroitelnykh Aktivov by Putin's decree in January, gave 600 million in February.

Since January 2025, Putin has placed the businesses of 20 foreign companies under temporary management, 17 of them European, according to Reuters. Ekho found that a Metro store in Samara was sending aid to Russian military personnel.