Budweiser brewer AB InBev is selling its stake in 11 Russian breweries

The announcement by the world’s largest brewer, based in Belgium, comes after AB InBev has a 24% stake in Anadolu Efes, part of its 2016 purchase of its next largest rival SABMiller. They formed the AB InBev Efes joint venture in 2018, combining their respective Russian and Ukrainian businesses.The joint venture has 11 breweries in Russia, employing 3,500 people and three in Ukraine, employing 1,800. Carlsberg is the leading Western player in Russia, followed by AB InBev.The Danish brewer said on Thursday its decision to sell its business in Russia would result in a writedown of about $1.39 billion. Dutch rival Heineken has said its Russia exit would amount to related charges of about 400 million euros ($434 million).AB InBev also said it had introduced Chernigivske, Ukraine’s most popular beer brand, to many countries, including Britain, Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.”All profits from the sale of Chernigivske will go to support humanitarian relief efforts and AB InBev is guaranteeing at least five million dollars of support from this humanitarian initiative,” it said.