Kremlin Nationalizes Largest Canned Food Producer

In order to secure supplies for the army.

The Russian authorities have turned the assets of Glavproduct Group, a key canned food producer, which President Vladimir Putin placed under temporary administration of the Federal Property Management Agency in October 2024 in order to ensure the supply of the holding's products to the army.

The decision was made by the Moscow Arbitration Court at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office, Vedomosti and TASS reported. 100% of shares of Glavproduct's parent companies, as well as the property of the group's head Leonid Smirnov were subject to deprivatization. The supervisory agency accused the businessman, who heads the American Universal Beverage Company (it owned Glavproduct), of withdrawing almost 1.4 billion rubles to accounts at JPMorgan Chase bank to circumvent the counter-sanctions imposed in Russia. "The decision enters into force immediately," the court said. The trial was held in closed session.

"Glavproduct" consists of 32 companies located in Moscow and the Moscow region, the Kaliningrad and Orel regions. The group's companies supply products, including stews, pates, porridge, sprats, vegetables and condensed milk, to the domestic Russian market. On October 15 last year, Putin handed the company over to Rosimushchestvo, which in turn appointed a new CEO to the company at the request of food producer Druzhba Narodov, the sole supplier of products to the Rosgvardia in 2019-2020.

After that, Glavprodukt's sales fell sharply, according to Reuters, which examined the holding's internal documents. Reports show that in recent months the company began recording a net loss after moderate profits before nationalization, while production volumes remained flat.

The deprivatization of Glavproduct was necessary to ensure the stability of production, including to organize supplies to the Rosgvardia and the Defense Ministry, the new company's management said in a letter from the company's new management to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov. The Prosecutor General's Office claimed in its lawsuit, among other things, that Smirnov, after the company was transferred to Rosimushchestvo, began to obstruct the work of the interim administration, including the supply of canned food to the frontline in Ukraine. From the beginning of December 2024, he allegedly sent instructions to Glavproduct employees' mailboxes not to cooperate with the new manager.

The beneficiary of the company's expropriation may be former Russian Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev.

You can support the website Charter97.org

MULTI-CURRENCY ACCOUNT FOR ASSISTANCE:

Bank's name: Bank Millennium S.A.
Address: ul. Stanislawa Zaryna, 2A, 02-593, Warszawa
IBAN: PL97116022020000000216711123
SWIFT: BIGBPLPW
Name of the account holder: Fundacja “KARTA ‘97”
Purpose/title of payment: Donation for statuary aims

You can contact us by the e-mail charter97@gmail.com