The Russian authorities intend to use the state-controlled canned food producer 'Glavprodukt' to supply the army, writes Reuters citing a document.
'Glavprodukt' is the only American firm that has come under state control while the US and the Kremlin are negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine.
The agency obtained a letter sent to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov by the management of 'Glavprodukt' appointed by Rosimushchestvo. It states that the seizure of the company from its owner was necessary to ensure stable production, including for future supplies to the National Guard and the Ministry of Defense. The letter specifies that the new CEO of the company was appointed at the request of the food producer 'Druzhba Narodov'—the sole supplier of the National Guard in 2019-2020. As reported by 'Kommersant', this company was acquired in 2022 by structures associated with the holding 'Agrocomplex named after N.I. Tkachev' of the former Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev, who has been under EU sanctions since 2014.
In 2018, an investigation by FBK* showed that 'Druzhba Narodov' became the sole supplier of the National Guard by order of then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. At the same time, the department significantly overpaid for product supplies. Investigators then suggested that the beneficiary of this entire scheme was the prime minister himself or people from his close circle.
'Glavprodukt', owned by the American company Universal Beverage Company, came under the control of Rosimushchestvo after being seized from Leonid Smirnov of Los Angeles. The Russian prosecutor's office accused Smirnov and his controlled companies of transferring about 1.38 billion rubles ($17 million) out of Russia from 2022 to 2024.
On March 12, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, the Moscow Arbitration Court seized the assets of 'Glavprodukt'. Hearings on the case are scheduled for April 18. Smirnov denies his guilt and claims that the lawsuit is a 'corporate raid in Russian style'.
As noted by Reuters, 'Glavprodukt' has never previously supplied products to the Russian army.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the issue of 'Glavprodukt' will become part of the conversation about resetting Russian-American relations and could jeopardize the warming between Moscow and Washington, notes Reuters.
* Recognized in Russia as an 'extremist' organization.
Photo: Reuters