Russia uses “unfriendly countries” sanctions decree to place Japan Tobacco’s Russian manufacturing subsidiaries under temporary management

9 November 2026

Russia has issued a presidential decree placing four Russian subsidiaries of Japan Tobacco International (JTI) under temporary state management.

Japan is designated an “unfriendly state” under Government Order No. 430-r of 5 March 2022. Federal Law No. 127-FZ of 4 June 2018 authorises Russia to impose countermeasures against unfriendly states, including the transfer of assets owned by persons or entities from those states to state-appointed management. This power is exercised through Decree 302/2023.

JTI is Russia's largest tobacco manufacturer. Its largest shareholder is Japan's Ministry of Finance. The four subsidiaries affected by the decree are:

• OOO JTI Donskoy Tabak (Rostov-on-Don), owned by OOO JTI Russia and AO Pereslavl-Tabak;

• OOO Petro (St Petersburg) and OOO Kres Neva (Leningrad Region), owned by the Swiss company JTI Investments Sàrl; and

• OOO JTI Yelets (Lipetsk Region), owned by the Dutch company JT International Holding B.V., together with OOO JTI Russia and OOO Petro.

The subsidiaries will be managed by AO Promyshlennye Aktivy under the temporary management regime. See our Russia pages for more information on unfriendly states countersanctions.