Russia nationalizes assets of US-owned food giant

The Russian business of a major US-owned food maker has been temporarily nationalized, according to a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

The holding company Glavproduct, several of its subsidiaries, and three canning plants were seized and handed over to the Russian Federal Property Management Agency, Rosimushchestvo. The government will also take control of Glavproduct’s parent company, Promselkhozinvest, which is owned by the US-registered Universal Beverage Company.

Glavproduct was founded in 1999 by Russian-born US businessman Leonid Smirnov, who emigrated from the Soviet Union in the 1970s and returned to Russia in the 1990s in search of new markets, according to the news outlet RBC. Smirnov then reportedly started producing canned goods under the Glavproduct brand via Universal Beverage Company.

Glavproduct’s official website says it is Russia’s leading canned food producer, with more than 500 brands of canned meat, condensed milk, and canned fish and vegetables.

In April 2023, Putin signed a decree allowing for the temporary takeover of assets belonging to Russia-based foreign companies from “unfriendly” countries.

At the time, Rosimushchestvo was ordered to establish external control of the Russian subsidiaries of Finnish energy company Fortum and Germany’s Uniper, both of which were deemed critical to the country’s energy security.

The Kremlin said the move “mirrors the attitude of Western states towards foreign assets belonging to Russian companies.” 

In July 2023, Russia temporarily nationalized the local business of French food giant Danone, as well as Baltika Breweries, which was controlled by Danish beer giant Carlsberg Group.

Danone’s local business was later removed from temporary state management.