Shareholders, welcome to Carlsberg's Annual General Meeting. Both those of you who are present here today, here in the wonderful room of Glyptoteket. Welcome to those of you who are following the meeting via webcast. Nothing is normal these days. We are all shocked by what has happened in the world since February 24th. Today, before we start with the formal part of the AGM, I want to address the terrible war and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine. Both as an individual and as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Carlsberg, on behalf of the employees of Carlsberg, we are shocked and deeply moved by the terrible events in Ukraine. It's difficult to find the right words for this huge tragedy that's going on. There should be no doubt that we stand with Ukraine and the rest of the world in strongly condemning the Russian invasion. At this terrible time, our first and foremost priority is the safety of our 1,300 Ukrainian employees. That's why on February 24th, we closed our three breweries in Ukraine so that our employees could concentrate on the safety of themselves and their families, not worry about work. We pay them salaries, and we advanced their bonus payments too. In addition, we have taken a number of initiatives to help as much as we can. We have arranged for transport. We have set up three places of refuge, including at the Lviv Brewery. Our warehouse has been transformed into a reception center for refugee workers and their families. We started producing bottled water at our breweries, and we've donated the water to citizens in need. In addition, our stocks of barley, for instance, has been given so that people can bake bread from it. Our staff in Ukraine and Poland do such a fantastic job providing humanitarian aid. In cooperation with the Carlsberg Football Foundations, Carlsberg has donated DKK 75 million to support humanitarian work in Ukraine. Carlsberg has also asked the Red Cross for the employees to host a fundraising campaign where employees can make donations to Red Cross, and Carlsberg will match the amount raised. Over the past week, we've been asked a number of questions concerning our activities and presence in Russia. We strongly condemn the Russian actions in Ukraine, but we also feel a big moral obligation towards our Russian employees. We've been, as some of you know, owners of the Russian business Carlsberg since the year 2000. All these years, our employees have worked dedicated to Carlsberg in terms of the very difficult positions. They are in no way responsible for the actions of the Russian government. On the contrary, they're grateful to work for Carlsberg, which is known for honesty, fairness, and a culture based on strong values. We are also very much aware that this is not business as usual. Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we announced that we were stopping new investments and exports from other group companies into Russia. Since then, we have stopped all our advertising activities in the country. We've also stopped all production and sale of the Carlsberg brand in Russia. We've decided to completely separate the Russian business, so it's now an independent business unit with the objective of supporting our 8,400 local Russian employees. Any profits generated in Russia will be donated to independent humanitarian organizations. The situation in Ukraine and Russia means that Carlsberg is working intensively to analyze what the consequences should be, both for the local activities and for the Carlsberg Group as a whole. That was also the reason why Carlsberg had to suspend its earnings forecast for the year on Wednesday last week. Our Group CEO, Cees 't Hart, will address this in his report. We're looking into a very uncertain future. Carlsberg management will be assessing on a daily basis the changes that are taking place and whether that means that we should take different action in Russia, but we always have the safety of our employees in mind. The situation in Ukraine affects us all very much. Let us start now on the formal part of the agenda. According to Article 23 of the Articles of Association, the Annual General Meeting is presided over by a Chairman elected by the Supervisory Board. We have again this year asked Anders Lavesen, attorney- at-l aw, to chair the AGM. I'd like to show you who is up here. Next to me is Anders Lavesen. The company CEO, Cees 't Hart. The CFO, Heine Dalsgaard. The Deputy Chair of the Supervisory Board, Henrik Poulsen. My name is Flemming Besenbacher. I'm the Chairman of the Supervisory Board. The other members of the Supervisory Board are Carl Bache, Magdi Batato, Lilian Fossum Biner, Richard Burrows, Lars Rebien Sørensen, Søren-Peter Fuchs Olesen, Majken Schultz, and Lars Stemmerik. They're all elected by the AGM of 2021. In addition, the employees have elected five members, Hans Andersen, Eva Vilstrup Decker, Erik Lund, Tine Kastrup-Misir, and Olayide Oladokun. With this introduction, I give the floor to our Chair of the meeting, Mr. Anders Lavesen. You have the floor. Thank you very much. My first job has to do with dealing with some household details and safety details. In case of fire, the fire alarm will be activated. There will be an alarm sound. At the same time, all the guards will be notified via the radio system of the museum. Of course, there are no fire drills planned for today, so if there is an alarm, it's not a drill. You need to leave the building through the escape routes or alternatively, to follow the directions given to you by the guards. You will be asked to go outside to the place in the front of the building and wait for permission to enter the building again. There is also a defibrillator in the building, and staff has received first aid training. That was safety. We have more practical details. Toilets, also for disabled, are found at the lower floor near the cloakroom and there's still an entrance to the French-speaking section of the building. If you want to leave the room during the AGM, you must bring along your admission card, at least if you intend later to return to the meeting. The meeting is live-streamed on the company's website simultaneously with the AGM here in this room. The meeting is also recorded for the purpose inter alia of preparing the minutes. If you want to take the floor as a shareholder later when we have the possibility for Q&A, you're kindly invited to come to the first row on the right-hand side of the room, where there are special seats reserved for you. You have to show your admission card and your ballot slip to Sophie. Sophie, would you please stand up so people can see you? There you are. Shareholders doing this have been entered on a list, and I will get this list, and then I will introduce you. This will be done by me inviting you in the order in which your names appear on the list. If you don't wish to be filmed, because we do have a live streaming of the meeting, then please tell Sophie this when you approach her. Because in that way, we can give you a microphone, and you can then remain in your seat in the first row. Members of the press may take photos and film after the AGM. They cannot take photos, film, or audio files during the meeting. If you see any photographer in the room, violating this rule, then, well, it may be the official photographer of Carlsberg who's actually doing what he's asked to do. First of all, I have to verify that the meeting has been duly and lawfully convened and quorate. The convening notice and the agenda, including complete proposals, were published on the company's website on February 11th, 2022. It has also been sent to shareholders who have registered their email address in the register of shareholders by mail. According to the Danish Companies Act and the articles of association, the Annual General Meeting has been convened with no less than three weeks' notice. Also on January 12th, 2022, with a minimum of six weeks' notice, it was announced when the meeting would take place and the final submission date for proposals, all of this in accordance with the Danish Companies Act. The following documents have been available on the website of the company since February 11th, and this is in accordance with the articles of association and the Danish Companies Act, the convening notice including information about total share capital and voting rights, documents to be presented to the general meeting, agenda and company proposals, forms concerning proxies and postal voting. The annual report 2021 has been available on the company's website since February 14th of this year. The agenda of today's AGM is in compliance with Article 24 of the articles of association, which allows me to verify that the general meeting has been duly and lawfully convened and has been convened in the correct manner. We have an agenda today, and there is nothing in the agenda that requires a specific part of the share capital to be represented in order for the meeting to constitute a quorum. It is my opinion that we constitute a quorum, and the meeting has been duly and lawfully convened. If there are any objections to this, now is the time to raise your hand. That doesn't seem to be the case. There are no objections, we will proceed. First, let's have a look at the agenda. The first item is a report on the activities of the company in the past year. 2, presentation of audited annual report for approval and resolution to discharge the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board from liability. 3, proposal for distribution of the profit for the year, including declaration of dividends. 4, presentation of an advisory vote on the Remuneration Report for 2021. 5A, approval of the Supervisory Board's remuneration level for 2022. 5B, proposal to reduce the company share capital for the purpose of canceling treasury shares. 5C, proposal from the Supervisory Board regarding authorization to acquire treasury shares. 5D, proposal from the Supervisory Board regarding authorization to distribute extraordinary dividends. 6, election of members to the Supervisory Board. 7, election of auditor. The agenda items may all be adopted by a simple majority of votes. However, 5C must be adopted by no less than 2/3 of the votes cast and of the shareholder capital represented at the meeting. Right. Let's begin with items 1 - 4, which we will deal with in one go as per usual. First speaker is the Chairman of the Supervisory Board. You have the floor, sir. Dear shareholders, this is my last report as Chair of the Supervisory Board of Carlsberg. I'm sure it's not the last yet. As I said in my welcome, this is a sad background we have for this year's annual report. I am pleased that we can meet here physically again in the wonderful room after the COVID-19 pandemic. You, Carlsberg shareholders, have turned up in numbers to be updated about Carlsberg business and be an active player in shareholder democracy. Over the last years, when I've talked about Carlsberg, I've talked about the 4 P's: Profit, Purpose, Planet, and People. I'm proud to pass on Carlsberg because it has developed in all these four areas in my 10 years of chairmanship. The profit of Carlsberg over the last 10 years, especially since Cees 't Hart took over as CEO in 2015 and Heine Dalsgaard took over as CFO in 2016, Carlsberg has achieved very strong financial results despite the headwinds that Carlsberg has experienced the last couple of years because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Earnings per share, adjusted for special items in the period from 2012 - 2021 has grown up by 34%. The return to shareholders has increased almost sevenfold. Earnings per share has quadrupled from 2012, and the dividend was DKK 6, and this year we are proposing DKK 24. In addition, Carlsberg has share buyback programs. In 2012, Carlsberg returned DKK 839 million to shareholders in the form of dividend. In 2021, it was DKK 6.8 billion in the form of dividend and share buyback. The purpose, Carlsberg has a unique heritage and history with the Carlsberg Foundation as a long-term majority and main shareholder. Carlsberg's purpose is brewing for a better today and tomorrow. That's our purpose, and we have that throughout our activities. Our purpose means that we are working all the time for Carlsberg to develop and create value for our shareholders, for employees, and for society. We want to signal that Carlsberg is different from any other brewers, and we have a very special reason for our existence. This is very much in line with the heritage from our two founders, J.C. and Carl Jacobsen, and helps to commit our organization to something that's bigger. The strength is, has been seen very clearly in recent years, in recent weeks, when the group's employees, at least locally in Ukraine and neighboring country, Poland, have made huge efforts to help our 1,300 Ukrainian colleagues. The support initiatives taken are certainly in the spirit of our founders. It's also their spirit that we're also protecting our 8,400 employees in Russia. In addition to their strong social responsibility, ethics, and decency, Carlsberg's founders also put quality highest. They were convinced that this had the significance of science if you wanted to perfect the art of beer brewing. J.C. Jacobsen, you can see that Carlsberg, this is what he said. He said, "Carlsberg Brewery's operation, the purpose was to, without looking at immediate benefits, to look to develop production, to the best, possible level. These breweries and their products can always be a pattern and example showing that beer brewing art is healthy, is maintained at a high and decent level." These goals were an ambition for the brewery: create a better world for all. Another motto was Semper Ardens, always burning, always trying to reach the highest level of perfection and quality of our products. Engaging science has always been there from the very outset, from 1875, when J.C. Jacobsen founded the Carlsberg Research Laboratory. When I took the presidency of the Board, one of my goals was to bring the laboratory back to its crucial role that it had when it was founded. There is no doubt that the work and the, what we've done in the laboratory in recent years have been important contributions to the unique journey that Carlsberg has been on. Let me give you some examples of that. Alcohol-free beer has made a long progress from where it was 8-10 years ago. Today, it's a fantastic well-received product many people enjoy every day. This development comes not least from the new yeast strains developed at Carlsberg Laboratory and development of new brewing technology, where the lab has played a very important role. Another example is barley, where the elite competencies of the Carlsberg Laboratory employees have then contributed new barley variants, including variants that extend the life of the beer and improve the taste for consumers, while at the same time spending less energy in the brewing process. The laboratory has also developed variants that are more productive, climate resistant, and environmentally friendly. These are just some cases. Just a few cases in point. The Carlsberg Research Laboratory is also very active in genomics, breeding of barley, hops, and yeast, and the development of new technologies. Now we come to the P for Planet. Since the launch of our ambitious sustainability strategy to get us towards zero five years ago, we have clearly reduced the group's CO2 emissions and water consumption. The starting point was in 2015. We've reduced our relative CO2 emissions per hectoliter of beer produced by 30% and water consumption by 21%. Looking at water, it's even more remarkable that the group's skillful employees have been able to reduce water consumption by as much as 35% in high-risk breweries. In those areas where the water is a key resource. At the brewery in Denmark, in Fredericia, we only use 1.8 liters of water for each liter of beer. When our new water recovery system is fully implemented, we'll get down to 1.4 liters by recycling 90% of our processed water. This will make Fredericia Brewery a world leader when it comes to water consumption. As an integral part of Carlsberg's new strategy, SAIL'27, which our CEO, Cees 't Hart, will talk about in his report. Carlsberg will subsequently launch a new expanded sustainability program that will be called Together Towards ZERO and Beyond, it'll be called. This program will continue to focus on CO2, water safety in the workplace, and a responsible drinking culture. In addition, we'll introduce two new focus areas: sustainable farming and packaging. We'll set goals, and we'll report on the progress of these goals every year. Again, Carlsberg's Research Laboratory will play a crucial role. Carlsberg's work in sustainability is described in the ESG report that was published. It was published on February 4th. It can also be found on the Carlsberg Group website. It contains a detailed description of the group's progress in recent years. ESG, that's Environmental, Social, and Governance. That's ESG. The ESG report also contains a listing of the financial contribution of the Carlsberg Group to the societies in which we operate, the taxes and duties generated by the group's companies and our employees. In 2021, these taxes amounted to about DKK 40 billion. Carlsberg recognizes the legitimate interest of our shareholders and other stakeholders in openness in regard to the tax policy and tax payments of multinational companies. In 2020, we carried out a thorough review of our tax policy in relation to our tax that we present for the general public. In 2021, we carried out an examination of the possibility of publishing our tax report country- by- country. The conclusion of this examination was that until such a country-by-country basis tax reporting becomes a requirement from all companies in the industry, this would be a competitive disadvantage, a considerable disadvantage for Carlsberg. It's important for me to say that Carlsberg will also support openness in the field of taxation. We've expanded the ESG report. We have reporting, not country by country, but we have it by region. Lastly, last P for People. This is also essential. I'm proud to report that Carlsberg has a very strong employee team at all levels from the top management, Cees and Heine, the remaining colleagues, Executive Committee, all the other leaders, and the employees across the company's markets and central functions. One important priority in our strategy that we've pursued so far, SAIL'27, and the same thing in the new strategy, SAIL'27, is to ensure that Carlsberg has a winning culture where managers and employees ambitiously with commitment are committed every day to create value for customers, consumers, employees, local communities, and Carlsberg shareholders. Announce some general comments to Carlsberg’s results for 2021, and after that, something about good corporate governance and the remuneration policy for members of Supervisory Board and Executive Board. Our CEO, Cees 't Hart, will in his report briefly describe the new strategy and go over the results for the year in three regions and for the group as a whole. On February 4th, 2022, we presented the annual accounts 2021. I'll briefly highlight some of the most important figures. Despite the continued challenge caused by COVID-19, Carlsberg delivered results on key parameters in 2021 that were very good at a level with or even better than 2019, which was before the pandemic. As you can tell from the graphs behind me, this applies to revenue, profit on primary operations, net profit, cash flow from operations, and return on invested capital. The return on invested capital measures the competency of a business to generate a return on the capital and the assets used in operations. Here, Carlsberg delivered constant improvement in the period from 2016 - 2021, and this in spite of the major COVID-19-related challenges appearing both in 2020 and 2021. In 2016, the return on invested capital was 5.9%, but in 2021, it had risen to 10.3%. The impressive development of the group was driven not least by continued solid growth in Asia, including China. When I took over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board in 2012, it was my ambition to increase our exposure in relation to Asia and in particular China that I knew very well from my scientific work. Asia has been and is still a considerable growth engine, and I'm proud to say that we have achieved a considerable increase in our business in Asia. Revenue of DKK 9.1 billion and a result of primary operations of DKK 1.7 billion means that Asia contributed to 16% of our business in 2012. In 2021, revenue had more than doubled, DKK 19.5 billion, and even more impressive was the primary operations almost doubled to DKK 45 billion. As a result, Asia accounts for about 1/3 of consolidated revenue and about 40% of the primary profit on operations. These are fine results, and it means that the Board recommends to the general meeting that for the financial year 2021, a dividend of DKK 24 per share be paid corresponding to 45% of the adjusted net profit, and thus in accordance with the company's dividend policy. Dividend per share for the year reflects an increase from the year before of 9%. Total payout is DKK 2.4 billion, which is taken from the company's reserves, which amounted to DKK 32.2 billion as at December 31st, 2021. We made share buyback in 2021, broken down on four programs, each of a 3-month duration. The first program was launched in February, the last one in late October, which meant that it ended in late January this year. Over the 12-month period, a total amount of DKK 4 billion was used for share buybacks. We also wish to do that in 2022 to return excess liquidity to shareholders. Interesting with the process in 2021, because of the continued high uncertainty related to both COVID-19 and the strong inflation, and also the situation in Russia and Ukraine, and prices of raw materials and consumer confidence in general, we have decided to use also three-month programs this year. The first program was launched on the February 4th, involving DKK 1 billion, and it will run until April 22nd. Carlsberg will work actively with good corporate governance, and we have published our statutory report on corporate governance and compliance with the recommendations from the Committee on Corporate Governance, which is accessible on the group website. It appears that we meet the recommendations from the committee, apart from four areas. First area is the announcement of quarterly reports. For the second and third quarter, we only published a so-called trading statement. The second area has to do with nominations and remuneration committees. Half of the members are defined as so-called independent members. The recommendation says 50% +. The third area is a recommendation to the effect that a minimum of half of the Supervisory Board members of the elected by the AGM must be independent. They, the proportion was 40% in 2021. We now have some candidates that we hope may just live up to this recommendation in 2022. The last thing has to do with the recommendation of using external assistance in connection with an evaluation of the Board's work minimum once every three years. This did not happen in 2021. Every year we do have an evaluation of the Board's work and composition. All members reply to a number of questions about own composition, cooperation with Executive Board, committees on the Board, improvement potential, and so on. I have also together with the Deputy Chair had evaluation interviews with each individual member and also members of the Executive Board and the Ex Comm, and then a social report is issued, which follows up also on conclusions and proposals from last year's report. The conclusion in 2021 was that there is high satisfaction with work on the Board, with the work done by the Executive Board, and the general condition of the company and the direction that we are moving in. The Board has defined a number of targets for diversity on the company, like international exposure and gender. With regard to international exposure, the target is for a minimum of half of the members elected at the general meeting to have considerable international management exposure, not least because about 95% of our business takes place outside Denmark. We live up to that. With regard to gender, the company's goal is for minimum 40% of the members elected by the general meeting to come from the underrepresented gender. In 2021, we had 2 out of 10 members on the Board who had been elected by the AGM. Unfortunately, that meant that we failed to meet the 40% target. Today, we have 3 women and 6 men that are up for election, that represents a proportion of 33%. I know that there's still keen focus on creating a better balance of the gender on the Board, and I hope that this will be achieved in the near future. It's important for me to emphasize that we have a Board with very high level of diversity when it comes to competencies in relation to financing, sustainability, supply chain, sales and marketing, new technology, research and development, digital experience, regional and cultural awareness, and knowledge of so-called fast-moving consumer goods companies. Today, we ask the general meeting to approve the specific remuneration paid to the Board for 2022. Carlsberg's Board members receive a fixed amount and are not involved in any kind of incentive schemes. The basic fee for Board members has not been regulated since 2017, and upon recommendation from the Remuneration Committee, we have decided to recommend that the basic fee be increased by 7% to DKK 440,000. Apart from that, the remuneration calculation is unchanged. The composition of the remuneration appears in the convening notice. The basic amount paid to the Carlsberg CEO was unchanged in 2021 compared to the year before. However, the total remuneration paid to the CEO was higher, thanks to the extremely fine results achieved in 2021. The composition of payments to the Executive Board in 2021 appears on page 9 in the remuneration report. The general principles for remuneration to Executive Board members have not changed since in relation to the policy adopted at the AGMs in 2013 and 2020. We find that we have complied with the remuneration policy in 2021, and the report has, of course, been prepared in accordance with this policy. Payments to members of the Executive Board consists of six components. A fixed amount, an annual cash bonus program based on the fulfillment of a number of specific targets, and a share-based remuneration amount that builds upon the fulfillment of four specific targets spanning a three-year period. Two out of three components are variable, which means that they are closely linked to shareholders' interests and will only be paid out if Carlsberg can deliver the goals defined. Beginning in 2021, we decided to increase the weight of the so-called ESG measures in the short-term incentive scheme to 20%, and the KPIs include all four focus areas in the sustainability program Together Towards ZERO. Because of the fine results were much better than originally anticipated, there was a substantial increase in the short-term incentive program compared to 2020, when payment was halved due to the challenges from the COVID-19 situation. The value of the long-term incentive program for 2021 was on a par with the last two years. Before I conclude my report, I'd like to make a comment to the changes in the composition of the Board that we will decide later today. In my time as Chairman of the Board, I have developed the Board and make it more contemporary in view of us being a company with activities in more than 30 countries. On that basis, the Carlsberg Foundation announced in 2020 at the AGM 2023, only two members from the Carlsberg Foundation's Board will be available as candidates for the Board of Carlsberg. This change in composition has to do with good corporate governance and is taking account of the diversity, the industrial knowledge and global experience that we need as an international business. We are already reducing the number of Board members representing the Carlsberg Foundation this year when we go from 5 - 3. I wish to emphasize that the foundation will still be a committed major shareholder of Carlsberg, making sure that we always think and act in the long term, attract, develop, and maintain a diverse map of talents, make sure our products have a high quality, and contribute to a better society in accordance with our purpose. There will also be a change in the sense that in future, the post of Chairman of the Supervisory Board will be given to one of the independent members. I will not be running again for the Carlsberg Supervisory Board. I will now hand over the baton to the deputy chair, Henrik Poulsen, who we expect will be appointed new chairman after the AGM today. Henrik has been deputy chair for the past year and been very actively involved in Board work and the development of SAIL'27, and I am sure that he will be the right chair. I've had a very good cooperation with him. This means that Majken Schultz, who is the new chair of the Carlsberg Foundation Board, will be the new deputy chair of Carlsberg. Lars Rebien Sørensen and Lars Stemmerik have also announced that they will not run for re-election. Warm thanks are due to them, especially special thanks to Lars Rebien Sørensen, who was deputy chair in 2018 and 2020 and who made a huge commitment and made a contribution to Board work in Carlsberg. The candidates for Board membership are Punita Lal and Mikael Aro. We have been looking for qualified candidates, and we wanted to find candidates with in-depth knowledge and insight into Asia, respectively Eastern Europe. We have achieved this. Punita and Mikael both contributed with a very extensive management experience. Punita is from India and has more than 30 years of experience in with brands, including, not least, her knowledge from her management positions in Pepsi and Coca-Cola. Mikael Aro is from Finland, has a broad commercial background. He's worked at Carlsberg from 5- 7 when he was CEO of the Finnish brewery Hartwall and from 7 - 9 when he was head of the then Northern European region. They are both extremely competent candidates, and I'm convinced that they will contribute with additional competencies to the Board. Dear shareholders, on behalf of the group, I'd like to say warm thanks to you as shareholders. Also to our customers, suppliers, and our partners for good cooperation over the past 10 years and also in 2021. Also, on behalf of the Board, warm thanks to Cees and Heine, who have steered the company through very difficult times. Also, of course, thanks to all the just under 40,000 competent and highly committed employees for a job well done in 2021, where once again, we had a number of COVID-related challenges. We wanted 2022 to be a year in which we could put COVID-19 behind us and look forward to more normal conditions. The horrible war in Ukraine put an abrupt end to that. I wish to conclude my report by once again expressing my horror at the war in Ukraine and my deep-felt hope that it will soon come to an end. With this, I will hand over to CEO Cees 't Hart, who will add to my report and go over the main figures for 2021. Good afternoon, and also welcome from me to this Annual General Meeting. As the chairman already stated, we are shocked and deeply saddened by the war and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Ukraine. Thousands of lives are being lost, and millions of people are being impacted. We stand alongside the Ukrainian people and people around the world in condemning the Russian invasion in the strongest possible terms. No words can ever justify the violence inflicted on innocent Ukrainians. Our hearts and thoughts are with Ukraine, and not least with our 1,300 local colleagues and their families. Our number one priority is their safety and well-being. I want to assure that you, our shareholders of Carlsberg, that work is taking place around the clock to support our employees, their families, and the people of Ukraine. I'm deeply moved by the engagement and also the selfless effort shown by our colleagues across our business, and not least in Ukraine and Poland. I'm also well aware, and understand very well the emotions regarding our actions in Russia. Any decision we will make will have substantial consequences either way. Decisions we have taken regarding Russia are based on a careful analysis and evaluation with our minds and with our hearts, with the safety and interest of our people as our guiding principle. This cannot be business as usual. The chairman explained the actions we have taken in Russia. I want to make clear that our Russian business will run independently from the Carlsberg Group. It will operate in Russia by our Russian colleagues, and any profits generated by this business will be donated to a relief organization and used for humanitarian causes. We are currently reviewing a full range of strategic options for our Russian business, recognizing the obligations we have to 8,400 people working for us there. We must remember that they are not responsible for the actions of the Russian government. The war is bringing business challenges that few of us have ever experienced. What touches me deeply is the huge impact of the war on so many innocent people's lives. It's truly heartbreaking. It's my greatest hope that this war comes to the fastest possible peaceful end. How difficult it is, but let's now turn to 2021, which was a year when the world continued to be impacted by COVID-19. Our people, business, customers, consumers, and societies were, to different degrees and at different times, affected by the pandemic. During the year, our main focus remained the health and well-being of our people and at the same time ensuring the health of the Carlsberg Group. It was encouraging to see that many beer markets, particularly in Western Europe, recovered during the summer months, with consumers eager to socialize and return to bars, cafes, and restaurants. This gives us confidence in the resilience of the beer markets. Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, the organizational, strategic, and financial health of the full Carlsberg Group was good in 2021. The good organizational health was evidenced by the 2021 employee survey. Despite the immense challenges for all employees on a personal and professional level in both 2020 and 2021, the results were largely on par with the survey conducted in 2019. Results told us that our many initiatives to support and take care of our employees, to empower them and to ensure good communication have resonated well. The strategic health of Carlsberg was also very strong. Since 2016, the SAIL'22 strategy has guided us on our journey to become the most successful, professional, and attractive company in our markets. We are pleased with our achievements during the past six years, and there's now no doubt that our clear strategic choices and priorities have been key for our ability to navigate through the rough seas of COVID-19. Let me give you a few examples to show you that we also in 2021 delivered strongly against the SAIL'22 priorities. Our craft and specialty volumes were up by 15%, despite continued lockdowns and restrictions. This growth was supported by very good results for 1664 Blanc and Somersby, which grew by 24% and 10% respectively. Alcohol-free brews continued the strong momentum and grew by 17%, driven by very good growth for many of our local alcohol-free brands in both Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe. We have strong market conditions in alcohol-free brews, and in 2021, the category accounted 4% of group beer volumes. The pandemic has accelerated consumers' online buying habits, and e-commerce is growing fast. In 2021, total e-commerce revenue was up by more than 50%, although from a small base, as online sales still only accounts for around 6% of total revenue. As its name suggests, SAIL'22 is now coming to an end. Therefore, during the second half of 2021 and the beginning of this year, we went through the process of defining our new strategy, which we have named SAIL'27. SAIL'27 builds on the strengths and successes of SAIL'22 while setting a new and exciting long-term direction for Carlsberg with higher ambitions for top and bottom line growth. We developed SAIL'27 as a collaborative company-wide effort, co-created by over 200 Carlsberg employees from more than 30 different markets. In this way, we could ensure that our new strategy incorporates the learnings and experiences from SAIL'22. With SAIL'27, we keep and sharpen our existing strategic, organizational, and financial focus. At the same time, we want to make sure that our direction setting is refreshed and that we incorporate expected global, regional, and local trends. In other words, SAIL'27 incorporates learnings from the past and assumptions from the future blended together. As you can see on the slide, we will focus on five strategic levers, portfolio, geographies, execution, culture, and funding the journey. For each of these, we have made distinct choices to be clear on the focus of our efforts and allocation of resources. It's important to emphasize that just as with SAIL'22, our strategic levers and choices are an integrated set of activities which together will drive shareholder value. By executing the SAIL'27 choices and priorities, we aim to remain an attractive company for investors, societies, and employees. We believe that we can successfully capture long-term growth opportunities, and we are therefore increasing our financial and sustainability ambitions. Firstly, from 2023 we target average organic revenue growth of 3%-5% per year. The key building blocks will be growth in premium beer, alcohol-free brews, and beverages beyond beer. Geographically, Asia is expected to deliver disproportionate growth led by China, India, and Vietnam, both in terms of value and volume. Western Europe and Central Eastern Europe are expected to deliver value growth across all markets, with some markets also delivering volume growth. Secondly, organic operating profit is expected to grow faster than revenue. This will be driven by growth in premium products and alcohol-free brews, where profit per hectoliter is above average, country mix, and continuous cost and efficiency improvements from funding the journey. Thirdly, we will continue our ROI focus and disciplined capital allocation. This includes keeping our dividend policy unchanged with a payout ratio of around 50% and return of excess cash to shareholders through either share buybacks or extraordinary dividends. Fourthly, we will set ambitious sustainability targets. We will announce the new targets in April when we launch our new ESG program, Together Towards ZERO and Beyond. Let me now turn to the financial results of 2021. Let me start by reporting on the regional performance. Western Europe had a volatile year, especially the first half of the year was impacted by COVID-19 related restrictions in most markets. Whereas we benefited from fewer restrictions in the first quarter and easy comparables in the fourth quarter, as restrictions were more severe in 2020. Total volumes in Western Europe grew organically by 4.2% and by 10.7% in reported terms. The higher reported volumes were due to the acquisition of Marston's brewing activities in the U.K. in 2020. Organic revenue growth was 6.4% and organic operating profit growth was 8.9%. A higher operating profit growth was supported by positive channel mix and tight cost control and savings during 2020 and 2021. The operating margin was 14.4%, impacted by acquisitions as Marston's brewing activities had a significantly lower operating margin than the rest of the region due to its high off-trade exposure. Turning to Asia. The development varied significantly between markets. Most markets were impacted by restrictions and lockdowns, although these varied in timing and severity. Total volumes grew by 12.1%, mainly driven by China and India. Volumes in most other markets also grew, albeit at a slower pace and helped by easy comparables. Organic revenue growth was strong at 15.6%, supported by positive brand mix and in some markets, a positive channel mix. Organic operating profit growth was strong at 23.9%, and the operating margin therefore increased to 24.9%. The relative size of the Eastern European market, including Russia and Ukraine, has reduced significantly in the past decade. In 2021, Russia and Ukraine together accounted for around 13% of group revenue and around 9% of operating profit. The impact of COVID-19 differed significantly between the markets in Central and Eastern Europe, although the situation across the region became increasingly challenging towards the end of the year. For the year, the region delivered solid results. Total volumes were up by 6.1%, supported by a positive contribution from most markets. Revenue grew organically by 10.1%. This was driven by volume growth, price increases in some Eastern European markets, a positive product mix, and an improved channel mix in Southeastern Europe due to fewer restrictions. Organic operating profit grew by a modest 1% due to the higher cost of goods sold and logistics costs, and a difficult competitive environment in Russia. Now the group's overall results. In 2021, revenue was DKK 66.6 billion. The organic growth was 10%, while the reported growth was 13.8%, mainly due to the acquisition of Marston's brewing activities. Supported operating profit was DKK 10.9 billion, organic growth of 12.5%. There was a small positive impact from acquisitions, which was offset by currencies, and consequently, reported growth was 12%. Excluding acquisitions, the operating margin increased by 30%, while in reported terms, the operating margin declined by 30 basis points to 16.3% due to the margin dilutive impact from Marston's. Net special items amounted to - DKK 253 million. Special items were impacted by several things, including reversal of provisions related to acquisitions in prior years, impairment, write-downs, and one-off costs related to COVID-19. Net financial expenses amounted to DKK 381 million. Excluding currencies and fair value adjustments, net financial expenses amounted to DKK 390 million, positively impacted by the reversal of a previous write-down of a loan to our partner in Carlsberg South Asia. Tax totaled DKK 2.2 billion. The effective tax rate declined to 21.7%. If we excluded the net impact of certain special items, the effective tax rate would have been 23.5%, which was in line with our expectations. Carlsberg Group's share of consolidated profit was DKK 6.8 billion. Adjusted for special items after tax, net profit was DKK 6.9 billion. Free cash flow amounted to DKK 8.9 billion and was composed of cash flow from operating activities of DKK 13.3 billion and cash flow from investing activities of -DKK 4.4 billion. At the end of 2021, net interest-bearing debts amounted to DKK 19.2 billion. This was a decline of DKK 2.1 billion. The strong free cash flow more than offset the cash outflow from the share buyback program and dividends to shareholders and non-controlling interest in total amounting to DKK 7.3 billion. When we issued our annual results on February 4th, the world was very different. At that time, we believed that 2022 would be another challenging year, but due to very different reasons. COVID-19 was expected to continue to impact our markets to various degrees. At the same time, we would also be impacted by substantial increases in input costs and general inflation, and that was anticipated to have an impact on consumer sentiment and subsequently on beer consumption, brands, and the channel mix. Our expectations on February 4th was that we would be able to deliver an organic operating profit growth between 0%-7%. This guidance can be found on page 23 in the annual report, which was published on February 4th. However, everything has changed. The development in Ukraine and Russia will negatively impact the group's financial results for 2022. The group's assets in those markets may be subject to non-cash impairment and write-down. The markets outside Russia and Ukraine are currently seeing only a limited business impact. However, the indirect impact from rising commodity prices, including energy, will have a negative but currently unforeseeable impact on cost of goods sold and logistics costs for this year. Due to the very high uncertainty related to Ukraine and Russia and the possible impact on the rest of the group, we no longer consider it prudent to provide guidance for 2022. Therefore, last Wednesday, March 9th, we suspended the earnings guidance for the year. We are following the situation closely and will provide updates to the market as our visibility on earnings increases. The suspension of the guidance for 2022 does not change the financial statement as per December 31st, 2021, as presented in the 2021 annual report. Before ending my report and on behalf of everyone in Carlsberg Group, I want to acknowledge and thank Flemming Besenbacher for his great contribution, commitment, and immense dedication to Carlsberg during his 10-year chairmanship. It's under his chairmanship that Carlsberg has been brought to the level it is at today, with a strong financial foundation and a clear strategic direction with an integrated sustainability program. Moreover, Flemming has shown a fantastic ability to reinforce the unique legacy and purpose of Carlsberg, supporting the increasing value for the shareholders and all other stakeholders. Before leaving the podium, I would like to acknowledge the collaboration and the continued support of the Supervisory Board. More importantly, I want to thank all my colleagues in the Carlsberg Group for the remarkable effort and dedication. This was seen during the COVID-19 crisis and also now with the Russian invasion in Ukraine. It makes me very proud to be part of this company. My hearts and thoughts are with the people in Ukraine. It's my profound hope that the peace is urgently restored. With this, we recommend the 2021 annual report for approval by the Annual General Meeting. Thank you very much. Thank you. Before I open up for a debate, let me just inform you that the annual report I have seen has been signed by the Executive Board, the Supervisory Board, and the auditors as accepted by the AGM. I'd just like to read out the conclusion from the auditors' report, their opinion, and we have it on the screen in Danish. In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements and the parent company financial statement give a true and fair view of the group's and the parent company's financial position as at December 1st, 2021, and of the results of the group's and the parent company's operations and cash flows for the financial year, January 1st- December 31st, 2021, in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards, as adopted by the EU and further requirements in the Danish Financial Statements Act. It's an unqualified opinion by auditors. Let us open up for the debate. I have five people on my list of speakers already. As mentioned, if there are other people who want to have the floor, please come up here and talk to Sophie, who you saw a moment ago, and she'll make sure to put you on the list of speakers. The first speaker on my list is Claus Wiinblad, who represents ATP, the Danish Supplementary Labor Market Supplementary Pension Fund. Over to you. Thank you. I'm Claus Wiinblad, and I represent ATP. I'd like to start by thanking the Chair of the Supervisory Board and the CEO for a good report for 2021. As we heard from the chairman, there is a war in Ukraine. We're in the middle of a time that has tragic consequences for millions of people. That's why I'd like to start by addressing the war in Ukraine. For all companies with activities in Ukraine and Russia, I'd like to say that I very much respect the very difficult situation you're in. It leads to a number of dilemmas and difficult decisions that go far beyond financial and operational questions. In ATP, we really understand that this is very difficult to handle. First of all, I am happy to hear that Carlsberg is definitely doing whatever it can to support and protect its employees in Ukraine to take best possible care of their safety. The situation develops very quickly. What is the right decision today could well look different in a week's time or two weeks time or at a later point in time. This is a very difficult analysis to do for all companies with activities in Russia and Ukraine. For us outside, who do not have a full picture of the situation, it's even more difficult. That's why ATP is reluctant when it comes to having a clear opinion about what's right to do for the individual company while the war is raging. That certainly also applies to Carlsberg. This is because there's a big difference for different companies with activities in Russia. There's a big difference between short-term and long-term consequences of a given decision. There's a big difference between the effect and consequence a given decision could have in Russia and for the employees locally. There's a big difference in regard to what can happen subsequently with the assets that are involved. That being said, companies obviously need to comply if the sanctions are introduced. Furthermore, we have a clear expectation that the individual company understands its responsibility and is prepared to make even difficult decisions. I have no doubt that Carlsberg lives up to that. With the terrible pictures of the horrors in Ukraine, other agendas might seem less important and less significant. There's one topic that I'd like to address that is still imminent. Carlsberg has been at the forefront in regard to sustainability. I'd like to take the opportunity to take biodiversity and put that on the agenda. There's been a lot of focus on climate change. It's still important in the consciousness of many companies. If you look at extinction of the species that might be lost and you know even a bigger problem, biodiversity has been defined as one of the biggest risks affecting the economy over the next 10 years. Carlsberg is very dependent on precious use of Earth's resources and also certainly has an impact on biodiversity. I know that it is very difficult to define goals clearly in this field, but I'm happy to hear that Carlsberg, going forward, has put farming as part of their sustainability agenda. I am not going to comment a lot on the financial statements, but just pinpoint a few items. It's been very difficult to operate a brewery during the COVID pandemic, especially during the periods when bars and restaurants were closed. I think Carlsberg deserves a lot of praise for the way they have navigated through the difficulties created by the pandemic. The second matter I'd like to underline is the impressive growth in China. No doubt that China has created an attractive growth engine in the Chinese market. It can become the most important growth driver for many years going forward. In addition to the financial statements, you've also published the new strategy SAIL'27. The last strategy, SAIL'22, has worked extremely well for Carlsberg. The execution of SAIL'22 has certainly brought Carlsberg into a better position over the last 5 years since it was launched. This applies to Carlsberg commercial position and balance sheet cashflow dividend to shareholders, which has been strongly improved. I'm not particularly surprised that the new strategy plan SAIL'27, with a few adjustments, is to be seen as a natural continuation, actually, of the old strategy plan. At this AGM, Flemming Besenbacher is stepping down as chair, and Henrik Poulsen will take over. I'd like to say to Flemming Besenbacher, thank you very much for your efforts at Carlsberg. I'd like to stress three areas where you've been very important. One is the strategic change that has occurred at Carlsberg during the period when you've executed SAIL'22. This has really been proof that Carlsberg is now in a better position than it was before, both strategically and financially. I'd also like to praise you for the courageous decision it was to carry out the major change in Carlsberg's governance structure that you explained. It's really a big change in the history of Carlsberg. The last point I'd like to emphasize is the purpose that there has been, that you have seen on putting sustainability on the agenda at Carlsberg. I want to thank you ever so much for that particular effort. I'd also like to thank you for a very open, constructive dialogue that we've had, even if we have disagreed about a policy in Carlsberg, and we still disagree, have some disagreements there. I'd like to welcome Henrik Poulsen as the new Chair of the Supervisory Board. I look forward to continuing the constructive and open dialogue that we've always had with Carlsberg. With these words, I'd like to wish the management and employees of Carlsberg good luck with your work in 2022. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much. The next speaker is Troels Børrild, who represents the AkademikerPension. Thank you. Today I speak on behalf of LD Pensions and AkademikerPension. Together we have invested about DKK 500 million in Carlsberg. We're living in times of great uncertainty, as several people have said. We also have to assess the situation in Ukraine. It raises a lot of questions. We don't have the answers yet. It has to do with questions that we all have as people, as employees, as shareholders. How will it end? What can we do? What should we do? One thing is for certain, it has not become easier to operate a business. In AkademikerPension and LD Pensions, we understand that you are under great pressure in companies, and we support your announcement that you will stop selling the products in Russia and donate sales from other products in Russia to relief organizations. We also understand the change in the guidance that we have seen in connection with developments in the situation. It would have been a good idea. Many people have said as much, because you had discontinued sales at an earlier stage where you are. But you have to be very clear with the signals and your communications in regards to the situation in Ukraine. Sometimes you are exposed to criticism that is not sufficiently nuanced, and that is very tough. We've seen this also in relation to Carlsberg recently. You shouldn't forget that your Carlsberg's Russian business is important to Carlsberg, but it was established a long time ago when we all believed in trade with Russia and peaceful coexistence. The situation has changed. It must be dealt with in the best possible manner, and we all hope for a positive outcome. Although fiscal 2021 is already in the past and is secondary in review of the crisis, that's what we are here to discuss today. In 2021, Carlsberg achieved to navigate business in an excellent manner. Despite the pandemic, you delivered your strategy. Several growth engines show that they were tenable and the foundation is in place. The next five years will focus on a lot of the same pillars that we have seen under SAIL'22. 2021 was also the year when AkademikerPension and LD Pensions put forward a shareholder proposal at the AGM for the first time in Carlsberg. It had to do with taxation. One of the big challenges here is to make sure that there's enough money because it is expensive to tackle considerable crises, defense, green transition, health, etc. Here, tax payments for companies are very important. The collection of tax and making sure that companies pay a fair amount in the countries where the money is earned is something that has created a considerable debate. We don't doubt that you pay the tax that you have to pay, and yet we asked the Board to check out the possibilities of being more transparent in relation to the group's tax payments on a country by country basis. We have made the same proposal to other Danish companies. It's not that people are suspicious, but the thing is that we and many with us believe that transparency in relation to tax payments by companies will drive a positive development, and someone has to spearhead this development. We want Boards to look into this because it is difficult to do this through political channels. The initiatives should come from private businesses, front runners such as us, that today announces tax payments on a country by country basis. The Board has found that it is not a good idea for Carlsberg to do country by country reporting at the present stage, but we thank you for having looked into the matter. We need the discussion, though it is still there, and we believe that transparency will be standard in future. Remuneration to the Executive Board. Well, we always consider both the policy and report. We look at the construction, the size, and the transparency of a business. But we think that the size of the remuneration is too high, and there is a lopsidedness in the distribution between the fixed element and the variable element. The percentage is simply too high. We know that remuneration is there to ensure competitiveness, but there's also a balance that has to be struck. The transparency in the remuneration report is not sufficient, so we find it difficult to assess the connection between performance and remuneration. We would like to call upon the Board to reassess these aspects. We've done the same with other Danish listed companies. We've decided to vote against your remuneration report this year, but we often do that. Actually, at more than half the AGMs last year, we voted against the remuneration report. Also we do find positive aspects. For instance, part of the pay is related to the fulfillment of sustainability goals. By way of conclusion, I'd like to thank the Board, the Executive Board, and the many employees of Carlsberg for the job well done in times of uncertainty and change, but thankfully also solutions. We also wish to thank you for emphasizing the leadership shown by Mr. Besenbacher. When you were at the helm, Mr. Besenbacher, Carlsberg really took a major leap forward and did a lot in relation to sustainability and not least also corporate governance. The major decision that you have made now, we respect it, but we find that it is also good corporate governance to make sure now that the chairman of the Board will be representing the independent members. We look forward to a continued good dialogue also with the new chairman, and we will follow your development closely. Thank you very much. Time's up. Thank you. The next speaker on my list is Mikael Bak. He represents the Danish Shareholders' Association. You have the floor. Thank you. The Danish Shareholders' Association would like to thank you for being able to meet again physically. We've been waiting for that in these wonderful rooms, even if the background is very sad. It's important we can meet. It's important we can have these discussions. We have shareholder democracy, which is a good thing. We have many private investors. We have had many more in recent years. We see these weeks and months that the need of connection between companies and owners and shareholders is really important. We'd like to contribute to that. I'd like to repeat what we have said and written about the crisis that's going on at the moment. It's important that we as shareholders show support with the supervisory Board and Executive Board that have given us a lot of progress in recent years, and we can now have a dialogue about them. Let me start just like the two other speakers just did. Thank you. I mean, thank you for the good report and the dividend that you are paying. Shareholders appreciate that. Thank you to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board for finding and maintaining the members of the Executive Board that are out there. I'd like to welcome the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board. There are two topics I'd like to address. One is the increase in raw material prices that we saw last year. It's continuing this year. Can we see these prices being transferred directly to us as consumers, or will they influence the results we see from the shares that we invest in? Second, the unfortunate situation in Ukraine. Carlsberg in the media, as it has been said in recent weeks. You know, at meeting in 2019, the last time we were together here, I asked a question, not knowing anything about this. I said, "Have you taken enough into account the digital risk that there was in Russia back then?" Yes. You said yes. It was in relation to goodwill. In the annual report for 2021, you also review the risks. Here we can see partnerships, we can see financial instability. There's no risk assessment concerning Eastern Europe and the Russian business. I fully understand that nobody predicted what has actually happened. That this is why we must support Board and Management. Still, I think we should ask Board and Management, Supervisory Board and Executive Board. In the light of the big business you have in Eastern Europe and Russia, could you, should you, have addressed the risk analysis differently? How can that influence other uncertain markets in the world, where you'll be working going forward? That was it for me. I wish management and all the employees throughout the world all the best in a difficult but important year for Carlsberg. Thank you. Thank you for these questions. I'm going to reply to the first bit, and Cees will reply to the second bit. Price increases of raw materials and how they are passed on to consumers. This is early days. It's still early days. It's too early for us to conclude. As you've seen, we see here pricing increases across a number of different raw materials and a number of different energy sources. If this kind of becomes permanent, pricing increases of raw materials, of energy over time, yes, this will be sort of passed on to customers, and it's gonna be up to customers to do what they want to do. It's not clear there might be a staggering in time of that. With regards to the question on whether Eastern Europe and especially Russia was not too big a part of our portfolio, and whether we should have assessed that better. Well, for those that follow Carlsberg longer than 6, 7, 8 years, you know that Russia in the past was 15% of our total portfolio. Today, when we talk about profit or EBIT, it's 5%. Indeed, already in 2015, when we made our assessment of the geographical footprint of Carlsberg, we came to the conclusion that those days we were too dependent on Russia. By growing the other bits or the other parts, like China, like Vietnam, like India, but also improving our business in Norway and Switzerland and France, we have been able to become less dependent on Russia. It's also fair to say that over the last 2, 3 years, because of the competitive dynamics in Russia, we indeed reduced or had to reduce the expectations for the margins. All in all, it's 5% of our total portfolio, which is not too big, frankly. I think especially if you're a shareholder, normally you don't put more than 5% on one stock. It's 5% as a part of our portfolio. It's still painful. When we were talking about 9%, we were talking about Ukraine 3% and Belarus 1%. That makes then in total 9%. Thank you for the question. Thank you very much. The next speaker is Frank Aaen. You have the floor, sir. Thank you. I come from a group called Critical Shareholders. Like the others, I would like to begin with talking about the horrible war in Ukraine. I agree with what was said by the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the words that you do whatever you can to make sure that this war is come to an end in the best possible way. This raises the question, of course, of sanctions. As I see it, all the sanctions that can affect Putin and his team as oil will help. That will have an effect, and that is for the benefit of Ukraine. I think that's very important when we talk about this, is it to the benefit of people in Ukraine? I don't really think that closing down breweries will help a lot because they will be taken over by Putin's people, and it will affect the employees. I think that we should be very much aware in the discussion about this that we are not That war with the Russian population, they're not responsible for what Putin is doing. They are the backbone of a rebellion against Putin. It's important that we make sure that they don't get angry with us but get angry with Putin. Those were my introductory remarks, more of principle. Things may of course develop differently, I know, and then we will have to take account of the situation then. Back to say thank you for the initiatives that you have taken to make sure that the people in Ukraine have been sent home with full pay and the other measures that you outlined. It's all very important because this is very specific help to Ukraine in the current situation. Others have said that it is difficult to go from that awful situation to the more mundane things that are usually discussed at an AGM. There are nevertheless things that I'd like to highlight. Before the meeting today, my group, Critical Shareholders, put questions. One of them was about paying full pay to people in, or employees in Ukraine, and I understand that this is something that has already happened. Another question had to do with item four on the agenda, the remuneration report. If you look at page 10 of the remuneration report, you see that the CEO gets 175 times the pay of group employees, the people that actually create the value every year. Annually, he gets 175 times what they get. Or to put it differently, January 1st, he has made what amounts to the payment for a full year of an employee. That is way above other Danish companies. Some of them are at a high level, but this is head and shoulders above what we see in the companies on the OMXC25 index. I don't think it's okay. It is an unreasonable difference in pay in the group. It's bound to spread to other companies and will create more inequality in our society. On page 11, you see that it's DKK 45.6 million in cash paid out to the CEO. You should perhaps also say that this is at a lower tax rate than what people in Denmark pay. Because I didn't know that the CEO was a researcher or a scientist, but there is a specific taxation scheme for such people. They only pay 27% in tax plus the labor market contribution. I don't think it's fair that it's possible to pay such a low tax rate when you are a company CEO in Denmark. Just a question. Since Cees 't Hart has been with Carlsberg seven years this year, no one has said this before, but that's the interesting aspect of this, that the possibility of staying in this special tax scheme will run out this year. What will happen after 2022 when you can no longer privatize that special tax scheme? Will Carlsberg have to pay Mr. 't Hart a higher amount so that he can get the same after having paid tax as he gets today? Or will he accept this decline in his real wages? What is going to happen? Or is he going to leave the company? It's just a simple question, actually. This is a global group. We've heard the speaker say that. It has operations, as we've heard, in Russia and Ukraine. Myanmar has a large brewery out there with considerable revenue and a considerable profit level. The problem with a considerable profit level is that you have to pay tax, and you have to do that in the country where you operate. It is DKK 84 million that goes directly into the pockets of the military regime in Myanmar. I know it's difficult to answer this perhaps off the cuff, but couldn't you reduce tax payments in Myanmar in order to reduce the amount that you pay to the pockets of these dictators? That would be a good thing to do. That was one question. The second question I have to the market has to do with China. We heard that the company has a high level of activity in China, also in the Xinjiang province. If you follow the news, you know that there are huge problems with human rights in that part of China. I know that the Carlsberg Group believes that they comply with human rights, but I'd like to hear from Carlsberg Group, how do you choose to make sure that its production, distribution in the group of sub-suppliers and otherwise in connection with the company's activities in Myanmar, how do you make sure that there are no violation of human rights in any of the links or in the chain here? Those were my questions. Thank you. Let me give a reply to the first bit, and after our case, we'll answer the question concerning Myanmar. Let me say that as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I'm very pleased that we have Cees as our CEO at Carlsberg. I think Cees has represented a wonderful turnaround at the Carlsberg business as it was taken over in 2015, and Heine Dalsgaard came in 2016, as I explained in my report. When it comes to the pay for the CEO, this is always a topic that's up for discussion. It is true that Cees' pay is 175% higher than the average pay in Carlsberg. That is based on all employees in Carlsberg. If you do a different calculation, only take the parent company, you get a slightly different amount. You get 65%. These figures are very high. They can be very difficult to relate to. I really support the contract that I concluded with Cees in 2015 and the principles that were adopted in 2013. Cees' pay is based on the three components that I have presented in my report. The fixed pay and the other two are based on the goals that we set up for a given year. As I said in my report, in 2021, Cees' pay went up because the business was doing well. Frank Aaen will remember that his pay went down in 2020 when we had challenges in the business. I am not going to speculate about when Cees is not the CEO anymore. Cees, he has been a wonderful leader for Carlsberg during the COVID pandemic. He took us through the crisis expertly. Now, we are not in a hurricane. We are not in a storm, we are in a hurricane. I'm very, very pleased that Cees 't Hart is there with his team of managers trying to take us through the terrible situation we're in here now. I can tell you that Cees 't Hart lives in Denmark and in the Netherlands, and I can tell you that Cees 't Hart pays taxes in both locations based on applicable rules. Other than that, I'm not going to make any statement concerning his private situation. I'm very pleased that Cees 't Hart is the CEO now. I hope he'll continue and take us through the hurricane. I agree with Frank Aaen about his initial comments. It's a terribly difficult situation we're in Ukraine. What is important is not to say that this problem is the fault of our Russian employees. It is not their fault. We try to treat our Ukrainian colleagues and our Russian colleagues as best we can. I fully trust management in this extremely difficult situation. I'm sure they will try and take Carlsberg through it the best possible way. I think we all pray that the civil war that's going on will stop as soon as possible. Cees? Heine, please. I'll deal with the question concerning Myanmar. We have a brewery in Myanmar, that's correct. Unfortunately, we don't have a high profit there, so we have a negative profit before tax, which means that we do not pay income tax in Myanmar. With regards to the human rights issue in western China, well, basically, we apply the international rules on human rights everywhere in the company where we operate. We want to obey and to concur these rules. The question was very specifically, what have you done to prevent it? Indeed, in 2021, we've recruited a so-called inspector that will increase even the control of our sites of our contracts, and especially also in areas where it might be challenged to make sure that we are totally in line with what we promise. Thank you very much. The next speaker on my list is Bjørn Hansen. You have the floor, sir. Thank you. It's true. I am Bjørn Hansen. First of all, thank you to Mr. Besenbacher for his good and informative start to today and his review of the past year. Also thank you to our Dutch CEO. I'm quite sure that he is getting even more fluent in Danish, and he also gave us a lot of good figures. What he said about China, I couldn't really follow, but apart from that, I think he gave us some good answers. The thing about pay, if a company is doing well, I think people should be paid well. Things go hand in hand here. I think that is what we're talking about in Carlsberg. In the past year, unfortunately, things have happened. This has already been mentioned. Ukraine, Russia. Let's not quibble about the price of soda pop and high prices, etc. We should be constructive to enable Carlsberg to move forward and make money. This is before your time, Mr. Besenbacher, just for your information. At one point, investments were too heavy in Russia on the part of Carlsberg. I know that, the angle was different. Heineken was in the lead, and they were also fast in selling off. We were perhaps a bit too stubborn, and in the long term, that is difficult and dangerous when you have a person such as Putin at the helm. Apparently, he has ambitions of being a Hitler, and I have the following proposal to make. Carlsberg has now closed down two breweries. Now, Mr. Besenbacher says three in Ukraine at the cost of several billion Danish kroner when they were purchased. I take it that we're talking about land, buildings, bottling plants, equipment, and bottles and cans, et c. How many millions did it cost to start up the individual breweries? What about in Ukraine? There were also purchases made. For the year 2022, are there any losses, and what plans have you got in Ukraine for continued operations? What about bottling lines and machines? Will they be used in China going forward? About China, well, I think that Putin hasn't yet closed the route to China. 15 years ago, I pointed out that China was an important market, and someone said from the Russian, "No, we're not interested in China. We will go into Russia because that's where the money is." The tune has changed because now the Chinese drink beer. There's a middle class, and they now, I think, are about the size of the French population, and now they want beer. Anyway, apart from China, we have a country called India. We need to go back to the Second World War. At that time, Carlsberg was a recognized brand. You read that. The British soldiers wanted to drink Carlsberg beer. Some of the best warriors in the world were those from Punjab, and they were beer drinkers. Why not start up there? A major German brewery decided to do that. I know that things have started happening there. One of your predecessors, Mr. Besenbacher, was very enthusiastic about India. What's going on there? Isn't it better to make sure that the breweries make money instead of being idle in India or in China? I don't think Carlsberg will be given permission to send breweries to Houston or to Texas. Also, in the Soviet Union, Carlsberg had several breweries. Some of them are no longer active, and Putin has signed a decree to the effect that all foreign businesses may now be taken over by the Russian state at a cost of only a few rubles. That's the same thing as a bankruptcy for these businesses. It's EUR 5.3 now you have to pay for RUB 1. In 1989, someone told me that RUB 1 was worth $1, that is. I got these awful East German marks that Carlsberg people threw into a bucket, and they were useful. I don't know what afterwards. Then the situation with actual currencies. Heine, I think this is for you. With currency, Finland and Sweden, I think that's an opening, and it's still an opening. Or there may be a third location. How many millions of empty bottles and cans have you got stored in Carlsberg? What about depreciation in 2022 for this? Only Russia and Ukraine. Next question. Isn't the best thing to do financially in order to minimize losses to simply disassemble all the plants in Russia and Ukraine? Since RUB 1 is now worth DKK 5, perhaps EUR 2 now. We are below EUR 0.01. I think the dividend you pay out is good, and we don't get paid in cents, nor in rubles, but in good Danish kroner. We like that. During times such as these, it's a good thing. There are some huge challenges waiting out there. Henrik Poulsen certainly has his job cut out for him. How about sales and exports in Europe, including EEA countries? Will this also support your philosophy in relation to market shares and growth of about 8%? I actually got some figures. When the CEO delivered his report, I'm grateful to hear that there is progress in Europe. Perhaps it's all of Europe and not only the EU. I take it that Ukraine has been separated, as I understand it. I would like a written answer and also an oral answer. I also have a recommendation to all of you. I have actually made collections, handed it over to the Red Cross. There are people who say, "Oh, don't send them more clothes. They have much too much high wear clothes." It's wonderful to hear about the money that is donated. Let's say congratulations to Carlsberg. If some of these breweries could be relocated, let's give Cees to have another couple million Danish kroner, because then he deserves it. Thank you. Thank you very much. I went through the history and geography, and I will try to answer your challenges. First of all, with regard to Ukraine, I think we need, and some of the other earlier speakers also said that we need to be very clear in our communication. Of course, we do our utmost to make it very clear, but also we see that not everybody reads our press releases well enough. And hence, there's sometimes some confusion about whether we retreat from Russia or not, or close our breweries in Ukraine. As a shareholder, I would like to inform you on that. We closed our three breweries in Ukraine just because of the war. We hope to reopen them as soon as possible. At this moment of time, almost as we speak, we produce water in Lviv, and the other two breweries are indeed empty just because of the fact that most of the employees have come to the west and have now a shelter in our warehouse in Lviv. We hope, because that will mean that there is peace or at least that Ukrainians can live again in their own country. We hope that these three breweries will reopen as soon as possible. With regards to our progress in India, we have been there pretty successful since, I think, 2012-2013. The strategy there is to start in a state, and at the moment that we are cash positive, then move to another state. We're now in nine states. We are continuously gaining market share. We are now selling 3.5 million hectoliters in 2021, which was less in 2019 because of COVID, but we are making excellent progress. We make 16.5% operating margin there. At the moment that our breweries are, let's say, back to the volume of 2019. That means that we continue to invest in India because we do believe over a longer period of time, it will be an important country. Hence, to the earlier challenge, also to prevent that we are too dependent on countries like Russia, like China, and so on. You're talking about the nationalization. That's indeed a risk. Some of the newspapers have said that we were not fast enough to talk about our position in Russia. We have been very careful. We understand in that respect at least what's going on. We think in Russia in these kind of times, and therefore we have refrained from making quick decisions. As we said, we stay in Russia as long as we can. We take our responsibility for 8,400 people. Also at the moment that we would come to another conclusion, it means or the Russian come to another conclusion, it means that we lose our assets there, and our people would work for the Russian government, and the assets would be in the hands of the Russian government. That's one of the real risks at this moment of time. You've heard in Denmark the Russian ambassador or the ambassador for Russia in Denmark has made it very clear this weekend how they think about this. I'm not sure I fully understood your remarks on currency. We can take that maybe after the meeting together with Heine. When you talk about market share, that's a very important figure for us of course. It's a good metric to follow, to monitor. It's good that in 2021 we had more than 90% of our turnover that was in line with or even better than the previous year market share. It's basically holding share and increasing market share to more than 90% of our turnover means we are strategically very healthy. You were talking about the EU and even in the U.K., not a member of the EU anymore, even in the U.K., we gained market share. To your point, Europe is very important for us, and we are successful. Last but not least, our employees indeed are really answering our request for any donation to a Ukraine fund, and the company will match that at the moment that we close the fund. Then we are able to transfer that money to the Red Cross. Thank you for your questions. Thank you, Bjørn Hansen, for some of your answers. I ask you, I want to know which plan we have to move the breweries out. I understand the Russian beer, what we have now, you can keep your shops. Make Russian beer. Make not Carlsberg anymore because you have the best brand, Carlsberg. Number two, it may be Tuborg. Number three, you have in the Eastern Europe, of course, in Russia, you had before, you had a chief for the plant in Leningrad what we call it, now Saint Petersburg. He has connections to Mr. Putin. Every time there was about the tax should go up, he took the telephone, call Mr. Putin, and now nothing happens. It was in 1900, and I think it was in green world, 1919, that comes from the European Commission. One of them, he don't want his name out today, but they had connections, this company. The Russian beer is good for the Russian. Make that for the family and the market and get out of it. All what you can do, and don't wait three years because we RUB 5. No. There was another Danish company that wait about 75 years. They get money back from [crosstalk]. 75 years. Good night. Thank you. First of all, we indeed delisted Carlsberg brands, so we're not trading that in Russia anymore. We have a portfolio of some other brands, including the Baltika brand. When you have eight breweries in Russia, you're serious to stay there because you feel that that is the obligation, the moral obligation that we have in Russia for our employees. We cannot just take the entire assortment from them. It's of course a very important decision that we took. What I said earlier in my speech, it came with a lot of deliberations, and we are still looking at the different options for the future. I think it's also clear, and I hope that this was also clearly represented in the Danish newspapers as it was also in the Dutch newspapers. That the moment that a company suspends operations, they suspend their operations in Russia, that basically nationalization will take place. That means that those assets will be taken away from us. Hence, in view of our people, in view of Carlsberg, in view of also the shareholders, we need to basically base our decisions on our hearts, but also on our minds to really make sure that we do the best in the future and balance all the different considerations that we have to make in these very difficult times. Thank you. Nobody else has asked for the floor. There's one more speaker coming up. Please approach the podium. Welcome. Could you introduce yourself? My name is Merete Beyer. I speak just for myself as a shareholder. I'd like to comment on the points of view presented by Frank Aaen. But anyway. Talk about the fee, the remuneration of the CEO. I'd just like to say, I don't care how much the CEO makes, as long as there's a profit for the rest of us. Thank you. Thank you. I have no one else on the list of speakers. We finalize the discussion concerning items 5 - 4 on the agenda. As regards item 1, the assembly has adopted the report, taken note of the report with the comments added by shareholders and management here today. As regards item 2, that's the annual report submitted for approval and for discharge. I'd like to say that discharge means that the Supervisory Board and Executive Board are granted discharge from any liability related to matters disclosed in the annual report of 2021. Can I assume that the annual report of 2021 has been adopted and that we have granted discharge? There are no objections, so that has been duly done. As regards item 3 on the agenda, this is a matter of the distribution of the profit for the year and the size of the dividend. Can I take it that the proposal has been duly adopted, that the proposed dividend of DKK 24 per share has been adopted? It has been adopted. Now for item 4 on the agenda. This was a presentation of an advisory vote on the remuneration report for 2021. I can inform you that this is only an advisory vote. It means that if shareholders do not approve the remuneration report of Carlsberg and the remuneration report for 2022 would have to explain how that result has been taken into account. Can I take it that the remuneration report has been duly adopted? It has been duly adopted. That brings us to item 5A on our agenda. This is the approval of Supervisory Board remuneration for 2022. Supervisory Board proposes, in accordance with the remuneration policy, that the remuneration for the members of the Supervisory Board will be unchanged from 2021, apart from an increase of the basic remuneration of 7%. The ordinary members of the Supervisory Board will receive a basic fee of DKK 140,000. The Chair shall receive a fee four and a half times the basic fee and will not receive any further remuneration for any committee work. That the Deputy Chair receives 1.5 times the basic fee. That the chair of the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination Committee receives 50% of the basic fee. The chairman of the Audit Committee receives a fee of 113% of the basic fee. Other members of core committees receive a fee of 38% per committee. 38% of the basic fee. Does anyone wish to speak on this proposal? That is not the case. Can I take it that the proposal has been duly adopted? It has been duly adopted. That brings us to item 5 B on our agenda. Proposal to reduce the company's share capital for the purpose of canceling treasury shares. Now, what is being proposed here is to reduce the company's share capital by nominally DKK 68 million by cancellation of DKK 3.4 million of the company's holding of B shares. This is in accordance with the rules on capital reduction so that money can be paid to shareholders. The shares were bought back as part of the share buyback program. It was open from February 5th, 2021 - January 6th, 2022. With a total amount of DKK 3,683,060,643, corresponding to an average repurchase price of DKK 1,073.84. The capital reduction is carried out at a price of DKK 5,269.19. As a consequence of the capital reduction, the amount of the share capital will be updated in the articles of association. Does anybody wish to speak on that proposal? That is not the case. Can I take it that the proposal has been duly adopted? It has been duly adopted. Brings us to 5C. This is a proposal regarding authorization to acquire treasury shares until March 13th, 2057. It requires treasury shares up to 10% of the share capital. Such shares, you know, may not exceed 10% of the share capital at any time. The price of the acquired treasury shares must not deviate more than 10% from the price on the stock exchange at Nasdaq Copenhagen A/S, and must not deviate more than 10%. The Supervisory Board suggests the overall authorizations for acquired treasury shares ending on March 14th, 2018, which expires on March 13th, 2023. That will then be withdrawn. The new authorization and the existing authorization is canceled. Does anybody wish to speak on that proposal from the Board? It's not the case. Can I assume that the proposal has been duly adopted? It has been duly adopted. That brings us to item 5 D. It's a proposal regarding authorization to distribute extraordinary dividend on one or more occasions in accordance with the Articles of Association and the Danish Companies Act and the rules therein. Does anyone wish to comment on that proposal? Can I take it that the proposal has been duly adopted? Yes. Has been duly adopted. Item 6 on the agenda is a question of election of members to the Supervisory Board. First, I need to inform you that according to the Articles of Association, Board members elected by the AGM are elected for one year at a time. The Supervisory Board proposes the re-election of Henrik Poulsen, Carl Bache, Magdi Batato, Lilian Fossum Biner, Richard Burrows, Søren-Peter Fuchs Olesen, and Majken Schultz, and the election of Punita Lal and Mikael Aro. As you have heard, Flemming Besenbacher, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, and Lars Stemmerik are not available for re-election. I should also point out that in accordance with section 120 (3) of the Danish Companies Act, information about the candidates' executive functions in other companies must be provided prior to the election of the Board candidates at the AGM. There was a short presentation of each of the nine candidates included in the convening notice of the AGM. There was also a link to the company's website where information concerning their other executive functions can be found. I'd like to hear if there are other proposals or comments to the proposal. Are there any other candidates? That doesn't seem to be the case. I find then that Henrik Poulsen, Carl Bache, Magdi Batato, Lilian Fossum Biner, Richard Burrows, Søren-Peter Fuchs Olesen, Majken Schultz, Punita Lal, and Mikael Aro have all been elected. Congratulations. The next item has to do with election of an auditor. According to Article 33 of the company's articles of association, a state-authorized public accountant must be appointed to audit the 2022 accounts. In accordance with the recommendation from the Audit Committee, the Board proposes the re-election of PwC as auditor. I'd like to ask if there are any other proposals. That doesn't seem to be the case. PricewaterhouseCoopers has been re-elected. Congratulations. We have now exhausted the list of items on the agenda. Thank you for good order, and I'd now like to hand back to the Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Thank you, Chairman of the Annual General Meeting. First, I'd like to thank you for taking us so excellently through the AGM yesterday. As I said before, this was my last general meeting as Chairman of the Carlsberg Supervisory Board. It's been a great honor to be the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Carlsberg. Carlsberg is an iconic company, started as a Danish company, now an international company. Only 5% of the volume that we sell is sold in Denmark. We are in the three regions, as you also heard in the report, in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia. I'd like to thank very much Cees and Heine for excellent cooperation. I'd like to thank all the very many skillful employees that I've met in Denmark and outside during my time as Chairman. It's been a wonderful day to be able to meet here for a physical AGM. Shareholder democracy is extremely important. I'd like to thank Claus Wiinblad from AkademikerPension, Troels Børrild from AkademikerPension, Mikael Bak from the Danish Shareholders' Association, Frank Aaen from Critical Shareholders, Bjørn Hansen and Merete Beyer for your comments. While I've been the chairman, I have met some of the biggest shareholders, as Claus mentioned, and thank you for constructive cooperation that we've enjoyed. Finally, let me finish by saying once again that it's a sad background we have for this AGM. A few years ago, I really had not hoped that I would be giving my last report while Europe is at war. Again, I'd like to praise Cees and Heine and the management of Carlsberg for handling the crisis so well. We have the COVID storm, and now we are in a hurricane, and I'm very pleased that Cees and Heine and the top managers take pride in this to steer Carlsberg through the hurricane. I really hope that the terrible war in Ukraine will end soon. Thank you for your attention.