Asya Balabay Leaves Post of CEO of Auchan Retail Russia

She began her business career in 1997 at The Coca-Cola Company. From April 1997 to March 2004, she worked as a sales manager with distributors and wholesalers in Moscow.

The New Head

According to his social media, Ilya Berdnikov worked at large international manufacturing companies and in Russian retail at X5. He was responsible for strategic and operational management, commercial development, and marketing.

Berdnikov graduated from Volgograd State University, where he studied business, management, and marketing from September 2004 to June 2009. Earlier, from 2002 to 2005, he received a degree in Management at Volgograd Trade and Economic College. In August 2023, he enrolled at Humber College.

He began his career in 2007 at British American Tobacco — working his way up from trade marketing representative to senior territory manager. In 2011–2012, he worked at Mars, then for almost two years at Ferrero, where he was responsible for key accounts and trade marketing. From 2016 to 2017, he led chocolate category planning and activation at Mondelēz International, after which he headed client marketing at Campari Group for a year and a half.

In 2019–2020, Berdnikov was a category director at Kraft Heinz. From April 2020 to April 2022, he held the post of department director at X5 Retail Group. In 2022–2023, he worked as sales and business development director at Askaneli (Tbilisi), then for a year at Bothwell Accurate Co. Inc. (Toronto). Since October 2023, he has been co-founder of SolidRobots Inc. in Canada. From December 2024, he held the position of executive director at Rosimushchestvo in Moscow.

About the Company

Auchan Retail Russia has operated in the Russian market since 2002. The company manages nearly 230 stores in three formats — classic hypermarkets, city hypermarkets, and supermarkets. The retailer also delivers goods to customers through an online platform.

On September 18, Vladimir Putin signed a decree transferring the assets of a number of large foreign structures into the temporary management of L.E.V. Management. The document affected the Russian subsidiaries of Swiss food producer Nestle, French logistics operator FM Logistic, as well as the Auchan and Lemana Pro (formerly Leroy Merlin) chains.