General Director of “Ashana” could be a native of Rosimushchestvo Ilya Berdnikov

Ilya Berdnikov was appointed the new general director of the Auchan retail network on September 22, a source familiar with the situation told Kommersant. In the press service of “Ashana” to the questions of “Kommersant” promptly did not answer. It was not possible to contact Mr Berdnikov himself.

Ilya Berdnikov since December 2024 holds the post of Executive Director in the Federal Property Management Agency, follows from materials in his social networks. In 2020-2022, he headed one of the X5 departments. Between these events, the top manager worked for the Georgian wine company Askaneli and the Canadian construction company Bothwell Accurate Co. He also developed SolidRobots Inc. in Canada.

Auchan is a large FMCG-retailer, whose owners are the structures of the French Mullier family. In Russia, the network unites 230 stores in 100 cities. Network turnover in the first half of 2026 decreased by 2.5% year-on-year, to 127 billion rubles.

On September 17, 2026, Auchan, together with other large foreign assets, was transferred to temporary management by a little-known JSC L.E.V. Management (see Kommersant dated September 17). Yesterday, representatives of the company appealed to the trading network, promising to keep its smooth operation. The appeal was signed by the general director of L.E.V. Management Andrei Krayushkin.

The source of “Kommersant” in the retail market says that the ex-CEO of “Ashana” Asya Balabai will retain its functions, in fact continuing to manage the business. Ilya Berdnikov will take control of the company. And Andrey Krayushkin will appear as a process manager, formally not occupying posts directly in the companies transferred to the management of its structure. General Director of Infoline-Analytics Mikhail Burmistrov calls the separation of functions of the General and Executive Director typical for retail.

Alexandra Mertsalova, Anatoly Kostyrev