Ariston to Continue Operations in Russia After End of Temporary Management
Italian manufacturer of heating and hot water solutions, Ariston, will continue operations in Russia, regaining control of its Russian subsidiary, LLC Ariston Thermo Rus, after President Vladimir Putin annulled the decision to place the company under temporary management by Gazprom Household Systems. Ariston Group announced this in a press release.
The decree cancelling the transfer of Ariston’s Russian assets to temporary management was published on 26 March.
Ariston welcomed the decision, stating that it intends to “resume operations together with local Russian management, in full compliance with existing sanctions”. The board of directors of Ariston Group “will reconsider the decision of 1 August 2024 to deconsolidate [remove from the group] Ariston Thermo Rus and account for the corresponding losses”, the company stated. Temporary management had been introduced in April 2024.
Ariston’s statement is a precedent: it is the first publicly announced decision by a major company from an “unfriendly” country to continue business operations in Russia. Ariston’s Executive Chairman and primary beneficiary, Paolo Merloni, stated the company was “very pleased with the decision by the Russian authorities” to return control of its Russian subsidiary. Previously, President Putin had only lifted temporary management to allow foreign companies to sell their Russian businesses – as was the case with Danish company Carlsberg and the sale of Baltika in December 2024. In Ariston’s case, the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported that, together with Italian and European business associations present in Russia, it had lobbied for a “fair resolution” of the matter.
LLC Ariston Thermo Rus was registered in 2002 in Vsevolozhsk, Leningrad Region. The company’s core business includes manufacturing household electrical appliances and selling both electrical and gas household devices. In 2024, the company employed 292 people. Before the transfer of assets to the temporary management of the Gazprom structure, the General Director was Sergey Kukut. According to its financial reports published on the Russian Federal Tax Service website, Ariston Thermo Rus had revenue of 8.9 billion roubles in 2024 (8% less than in 2023) and net profit of 291.5 million roubles (8.8 times higher than the previous year).