FrenchFrench retailer Auchan said on Sunday it was fully co-operating with the French justice authorities in a probe into business practices at its Russian arm, reports FRANCE 24.
"Auchan is a victim in the case and reserves the right to join the case as a civil party. The inquiry aims to clarify certain facts within the Russian subsidiary of Auchan but is not directed against Auchan itself," said the company.
"Auchan has been fully co-operating for three years with the demands of the French justice department in this affair which, it must be recalled, revolves around an allegation of fraud and over-invoicing of products which Auchan Russia buys in Russia, and is therefore an exclusively a Russian matter," it added.
French magazine Challenges and the Financial Times had earlier reported that the French financial prosecutor's department had opened this probe into Auchan's Russian arm.
