Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday placed Rolf, Russia’s largest car dealer, under “temporary” government administration, a move strongly condemned by the business’s owner, Reuters reported.

The company belongs to a Cypriot company founded by Russian businessman Sergey Petrov. Rofl was one of the first car dealers to appear after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the transition to a capitalist economy.

The confiscation of its assets, imposed by a decree published on Wednesday on the Russian government’s legal portal, comes after Moscow announced so-called “temporary” measures earlier this year related to the assets of some foreign companies in the country.

Among the affected companies are Danone and Carlsberg, which accuse the Russian authorities of stealing their business in the country. That same Wednesday, Putin also ordered the confiscation of OMV and Wintershall Dea’s stakes in gas projects in Russia’s Arctic region.

But the seizure of the assets of “Rolf”, which traditionally sold a wide range of foreign cars, was the first case when a Russian businessman was “facilitated” his business in this way since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine last year.

How the Kremlin explains the “temporary” seizure of the car dealer’s assets

Russian authorities accuse Petrov, who lives in Austria, of illegally transferring money abroad, which the businessman denies.

Asked about the transfer of Rolf’s assets on Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov said that “this is only due to economic expediency and compliance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation and taking into account the international economic situation that surrounds us now.”

He also said that Rolf is a Russian company, but its complex shareholding scheme requires the intervention of the Russian state.

The Russian state has already appointed a new interim CEO and deputy CEO, and Rosymuschestvo, Russia’s state asset management agency, said it plans to grow the company’s business and improve its financial results.

The Russian prosecutor’s office wants to arrest the business owner

“Temporary means permanent. I already knew that. The bankers told us: you will be transferred to external management,” owner Serhii Petrov told Reuters.

“It has a devastating effect on all parties involved. The state is generally inefficient, and even more so in a field like retail,” he added, suggesting that the decision to confiscate his business could be politically motivated.

Petrov was one of the few Russian businessmen who, in an open letter published in 2014, criticized the deterioration of relations between Russia and the West as a result of the illegal annexation of Crimea.

Russian prosecutors opened an investigation into Rolf in 2019, accusing the firm of buying shares at artificial prices, a charge Petrov denied.

In September, the former head of the company was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for participating in an agreement that, according to the Russian prosecutor’s office, was intended to ensure the illegal transfer of funds abroad.

Then Russia also issued a warrant for Petrov’s arrest.