Pepsi suspected of corporate espionage in Russia
Russia’s agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor intends to apply to national law enforcement agencies over possible commercial espionage by PepsiCo, spokesperson Yulia Melano told reporters.
The regulator suggests the American soft drink company attempted to get access to some of its confidential information. PepsiCo has dozens of enterprises in Russia, and has denied the accusations, calling them absurd.
"PepsiCo refutes the accusations made today by Rosselkhoznadzor. We strictly comply with rules and regulations in Russia and all the countries in which we operate,” the company said in a written response to RT.
Rosselkhoznadzor has launched an internal check to see if PepsiCo had access to the confidential documents.
“According to preliminary results of our internal check, none of the agency’s employees who have access to the company's confidential document… could send it outside the organization. In this regard, the agency concluded that a hacking attack by the PepsiCo company might take place to gain access to classified information from the Russian authorities,” said Melano.
The regulator said an internal document illegally in the hands of PepsiCo representatives, contained information about Rosselkhoznadzor laboratory’s monitoring of milk processing plants, which are part of the PepsiCo corporation.
By obtaining this information PepsiCo had a competitive advantage over Russian companies and was ready for the monitoring, said Melano.
"This fact can be regarded as commercial espionage. Rosselkhoznadzor needs to inform law enforcement agencies about this fact and is going to do this in the near future," she said.
