Moscow seeks to use seized US company to supply its military - Reuters
Photo: Putin's soldiers will be fed American canned food (Getty Images)
An American company seized by the Kremlin is intended to be used for supplying food to the Russian army. This could jeopardize the warming of relations between Moscow and the United States, Reuters reports.
While the United States and the Kremlin are conducting negotiations about ending the war against Ukraine, canned food maker Glavprodukt, the only American company taken under state control, has been caught in the crosshairs.
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that its review will become part of the conversation about resetting relations between the US and Russia.
According to a letter from the new management of Glavprodukt addressed to the Prosecutor General of Russia, which Reuters has seen, the seizure was necessary to ensure stable production, including for future supplies to the National Guard and the Ministry of Defense.
Currently, Glavprodukt is under the control of Russia's federal property management agency Rosimushchestvo, as it was seized from Leonid Smirnov, who resides in Los Angeles.
The Russian Prosecutor's Office accused Smirnov and the companies he controls of transferring about $17 million out of Russia between 2022 and 2024.
Who benefits from confiscation
A letter seen by Reuters sheds light on who might benefit from the expropriation. It states that Rosimushchestvo appointed a new general director for Glavprodukt at the request of the food producer Druzhba Narodov.
According to a 2018 press release, Druzhba Narodov was the sole supplier for Russia's National Guard in 2019-2020.
A source familiar with the situation reported that Glavprodukt had never previously made deliveries for the Russian army.
An investigation conducted in 2018 by the Anti-Corruption Foundation of the late opposition politician Alexei Navalny revealed that then-President Dmitry Medvedev in 2017 signed a decree making Druzhba Narodov the sole supplier for the National Guard.
Information about the owners of Druzhba Narodov is classified, but in 2022 it became known that structures connected with the agroholding Agrokompleks imeni Tkachova acquired Druzhba Narodov. According to the company’s 2025 independent audit reports, which Reuters reviewed, the ultimate owner of the holding is Alexander Tkachov.
Tkachov, who was sanctioned by the European Union in 2014 for supporting Moscow’s occupation of Crimea, was appointed Russia’s Minister of Agriculture the following year and is the chairman of the board of directors of the holding company, according to documents.
Confiscation of Western companies
About a dozen European companies have lost their Russian subsidiaries under a decree by Vladimir Putin, including the Danish brewing company Carlsberg and the Finnish energy company Fortum, and the Kremlin has warned of new cases of asset seizures.
Moscow expected the invasion of Ukraine to be a swift operation, but the war has dragged on for more than three years, resulting in increased Russian defense spending and tighter control over strategic assets.
