Leroy Merlin will hand over the Russian business to the local management

(Comment added by Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Viktor Yevtukhov)

PARIS/MOSCOW, March 24 (Reuters) – Leroy Merlin, a French homeware retailer that employs 45,000.

Leroy Merlin is owned by the Mullier family, which also owns the Decathlon sporting goods chain and the Auchan grocery retailer, both of which still operate in Russia.

“We are starting the handover process and we need to present the project to the relevant authorities in Russia,” said the head of ADEO. “To be specific, our local leaders will start negotiations that could take several months.” As the deal is subject to approval by Russian authorities, financial details were not immediately released and it is impossible to say whether the retailer will continue to operate under the Leroy Merlin brand, a company spokeswoman said.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Viktor Yevtukhov, was quoted by the ministry’s press service as saying that the Russian authorities consider the decision to hand over the company to local management “civilized and reasonable” and therefore intend to help the Russian team solve the problems.

“I would like to emphasize that the chain will not only continue to operate and retain all staff, but also plans to open new stores,” he said.

The original Leroy Merlin message in English is available at the code: (Ley Thomas in Paris, featuring Gleb Stolyarov in Moscow)