Russia seizes U.S. company assets
The Moscow Arbitration Court has confiscated Glavprodukt, Russia’s largest canned food producer, from its U.S. owner in favor of the Russian state, independent Russian outlet The Moscow Times reported on July 14.
The court granted the prosecution’s request to seize all Glavprodukt’s assets and the property of its owner, Leonid Smirnov. Russia’s leading producer of canned meat, dairy, vegetables, and fish, Glavprodukt became the first U.S.-owned private asset nationalized by the Kremlin. The legal process lasted several months amid a Russo–American détente following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Glavprodukt and other assets belonging to U.S.-based company Universal Beverage and its founder Smirnov were placed under temporary state management in October 2024. The prosecutor’s office later defended the move as “necessary to ensure stable food supply” in Russia.
In March, prosecutors filed a suit to confiscate assets on the grounds that Smirnov and his affiliated foreign companies moved about RUB1.38 billion ($17.7 million) out of Russia between 2022 and 2024.
According to reports, Glavprodukt now plans to offset declining domestic sales by boosting exports to China and North Korea. In April, the state-managed company announced plans to start supplying food to the Russian military.
Smirnov lived in the United States after fleeing the Soviet Union in the 1970s. He founded Glavprodukt in Russia in late 1990s.
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