Kremlin eyes seized U.S. canned food firm to supply Russian army, Trump says Putin will be “very generous”

RU

The White House is prepared to intervene in a dispute between the office of Russia’s Prosecutor General and the canned food producer Glavprodukt. The company was the first U.S.-owned firm to be placed under external administration by the Russian state.

Actual control over Glavprodukt has already been seized by Druzhba Narodov (lit. “Friendship of the Peoples”), a Russian company known for supplying food products to the country’s National Guard (Rosgvardiya). Since 2022, Druzhba Narodov has been owned by former Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev. Representatives of the company — referred to as “curators” — appeared at Glavprodukt’s offices almost immediately after its nationalization last fall. Operating anonymously, they managed the company on behalf of the temporary administrator appointed by Rosimushchestvo (the Federal Agency for State Property Management). The Insider has managed to identify some of them.

“I’m sure Putin will be very generous”

Glavprodukt, one of Russia’s largest canned food producers, was placed under temporary state management by Rosimushchestvo in October of last year. Officially, the reason cited was the owner’s status as a citizen of an “unfriendly country” — in this case, the United States of America. Alternatively, according to sources cited by the newspaper Kommersant, the real motivation behind the move was to “ensure national food security.”

The Insider’s sources describe the attempted takeover of Glavprodukt as being similar to the kind of corporate raiding that was common in Russia in the 1990s. The White House, for its part, is reportedly ready to defend Glavprodukt’s American parent firm — Universal Beverage Company.

Leonid Smirnov, Glavprodukt’s founder, initially appealed (1, 2) to U.S. President Donald Trump, asking him to bring a stop to the Kremlin’s attempts to seize his and other American businesses’ assets in Russia.

According to a source close to the company, Glavprodukt will almost certainly be destroyed if U.S. authorities don’t step in. Since the transfer of control to Rosimushchestvo, company sales have fallen by 50%. Speaking to The Insider, the source explained:

“If they continue like this, we have no idea where it will all lead. This is completely at odds with what Rosimushchestvo is supposed to be doing under the presidential order. [...] People who have absolutely no legal links to us simply forced their way into the company, hiding behind state authority, and intimidated everyone — managing [appointee Alexander] Dolgov as if he were the CEO. In reality, they are the ones running the company and destroying it.”

The issue of protecting American companies from nationalization — Glavprodukt in particular — was raised by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a Feb. 25 interview in which he discussed the potential for a peace deal to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Trump was also asked about the fate of Glavprodukt, responding that he “hadn’t heard about this.” Still, the American president was confident that “Putin will be very generous.”

Who’s seizing Glavprodukt: A single supplier to Russia’s National Guard and a former minister all in in one

In early March, the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office filed a lawsuit against Glavprodukt’s American parent firm — Universal Beverage Company, owned by the aforementioned Leonid Smirnov. The agency accused the company’s management of attempting to obstruct the temporary administration and transfer funds abroad. According to a report by business publication RBC, the amount involved was over 1.3 billion rubles (close to $16 million at current exchange rates).

Interestingly, the lawsuit also includes a firm unrelated to Glavprodukt: Druzhba Narodov. Legal documents list the company as a “third party.” The case began last Friday, April 18.

Druzhba Narodov gained widespread attention in 2018 following an investigation by the late Alexei Navalny. In December 2017, the company received an exclusive government contract to be the sole supplier of food to Rosgvardiya — Russia’s National Guard. Supplies of meat, potatoes, and other goods were reportedly priced at two to three times the market rate.

Originally, Druzhba Narodov was a Ukrainian company owned by businessman Yuriy Kosiuk and based in Crimea. Following Russia’s illegal annexation of the peninsula in 2014, Kosiuk claimed the company was taken from him.

Boris Kantemirov became the new owner. According to Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, he had previously worked directly under Rosgvardiya head Viktor Zolotov.

In June 2022, as reported by Kommersant, the Druzhba Narodov holding was acquired by the company Agrocomplex, which is owned by Russia’s former Agriculture Minister and ex-Governor of Krasnodar Krai, Alexander Tkachev. The meat processing plant “Druzhba Narodov,” referenced in court materials, is part of the group.

The enterprise is officially registered under one Maria Lisitsina. During Tkachev’s tenure as governor, she worked in the regional administration and served on the board of directors of AO Sochi-Park (АО «Сочи-парк») alongside Roman Batalov, believed to be Tkachev’s son-in-law.

The plant is controlled by the retail company PUD (Produkty u Doma, lit. “Groceries at Home”), which, according to media reports, is also owned by Tkachev’s network of firms. The direct owner of PUD — Astrid Finance Inc. — is registered in the Marshall Islands, as shown by official documents.

Furthermore, as The Insider has noted, all email addresses listed in the “Contacts” section of the Druzhba Narodov website end in “@agrokomplex.ru.” A search of this domain leads directly to the website of Tkachev’s Agrocomplex.

Anonymous managers

Officially — on paper — Druzhba Narodov entered the Glavprodukt story only a month ago, appearing in the aforementioned lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office. However, The Insider has learned that individuals from Druzhba Narodov were present at Glavprodukt’s head office as early as November 2024, shortly after Putin signed the nationalization decree. Sources close to the company refer to them as “curators” — a term they reportedly used when introducing themselves to Glavprodukt employees, some of whom were immediately dismissed for their “disloyalty.” Among those laid off was the company’s commercial director.

These “curators” have taken charge of internal operations, appointed managers, overseen restructuring, and assumed full control over Glavprodukt’s financial accounts. Throughout this time, none of them has ever presented personal identification or any official documentation from Rosimushchestvo that would confirm their authority:

“They came in every day without any documents, and were personally let in by [new company CEO Alexander] Dolgov. Later, the private security firm was simply replaced, and he issued them access passes without names.”

One of the “curators,” sources say, is Alexander Dolgov himself, who was appointed CEO of Glavprodukt-Patent («Главпродукт-патент») and LLC Promselkhozinvest (ООО «Промсельхозинвест») in November of last year. Both entities are part of the Glavprodukt holding. At that point, less than a month had passed since the canned food producer had been transferred to Rosimushchestvo.

Dolgov has a background in a wide range of businesses — from furniture production and sales to working with online marketplaces. As recently as spring 2024, the man now heading one of Russia’s largest canned food producers was selling T-shirts and backpacks on Wildberries, the country’s version of Amazon.

From 2008 to 2017, Dolgov served as general director of the construction firm Agro Land, which during those years was owned by Cyprus-based Rodcroft Limited. The Russian management company UK Rodcroft, in turn, was led from 2016 to 2018 by the aforementioned Boris Kantemirov.

In 2014, the Vedomosti newspaper identified Rodcroft Limited as an offshore company linked to Boris Vaninsky, the former vice president of petrochemicals giant Sibur. In a 2018 interview with the independent TV channel Dozhd, Vaninsky personally named himself as the owner and beneficiary of the management firm Optima-Finance — which controls Druzhba Narodov.

Another notable detail: in September 2022, Dolgov appeared in a photo at an environmental event hosted by Gazprom Gas Motor Fuel («Газпром газомоторное топливо») in St. Petersburg, where he was seen planting rowan trees alongside officials and company representatives.

The Insider has learned that the Crimean company’s senior management actively lobbied for Dolgov to be appointed as CEO of Glavprodukt-Patent. According to a source close to the company’s leadership, Dolgov was appointed CEO “on the recommendation” of Druzhba Narodov. The takeover of Glavprodukt from its previous owner, the source added, was specifically aimed at securing future supply contracts for Russia’s Ministry of Defense and National Guard.

Last week, Reuters reported on a letter sent by Glavprodukt’s new leadership to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov, in which Dolgov was again identified as representing the interests of Druzhba Narodov.

“At the beginning of November, we were immediately cut off from both management and financial accounts. In other words, we completely lost [control of the company],” a source close to Glavprodukt’s previous leadership told The Insider. “Then this CEO [Dolgov] immediately, within three days, laid out so-called ‘roadmaps’ for restructuring the company: ‘These firms will be closed, this will be merged, this we’ll do one way, that another.’”

The Insider was able to identify four so-called “curators” from Druzhba Narodov who now manage Glavprodukt under the guidance and protection of Dolgov. Among them, businessman Furkat Adylov is said to be the key figure.

“Adylov regularly attends internal meetings, and not only do department heads refer to his decisions for approval, but so does CEO Dolgov himself,” the sources said.

Furkat Adylov is originally from Uzbekistan. In the early 2010s, he founded his own firm, AIF Group, an exporter of meat that did business in several countries bordering Russia. His brother, Alisher Adylov, is also in the meat business and currently serves as general director of Servolux («Серволюкс»), a Belarusian company engaged in the production of meat and animal feed, as well as dairy exports (1,2).

Furkat Adylov keeps a low profile and uses an email address with the nickname “sovetnik” (“advisor”). His exact position within the company remains unclear.

Another “curator” is Nadezhda Sayko. As of 2021, she was employed by Optima-Finance, which from 2015 to 2022 was led by Boris Kantemirov, who later acquired Druzhba Narodov.

Before that, Sayko worked at Druzhba Narodov Nova. Her name appears on the IT company 1C’s website in the “implemented solutions” section, where she is listed in a 2020 review as the company’s financial director.

At Glavprodukt, Nadezhda Sayko currently serves as the “financial curator.” Unlike others, she rarely appears at the office, earning her the nickname “the lady on the screen.”

Another individual recently connected to Glavprodukt is Oksana Sokolova (Pavlenko), an employee of Druzhba Narodov. Leaked records show that she worked at LLC Meat Plant Druzhba Narodov (ООО «Мясокомбинат “Дружба народов“») starting from at least 2020.

In April 2022, Sokolova represented Druzhba Narodov at an HR forum in Moscow. She now oversees — or “curates” — human resources at Glavprodukt.

Also representing the interests of what is now Tkachev’s Druzhba Narodov is Ruslan Kozak, who has been affiliated with the company since at least 2019. In 2021, he held the position of first deputy CEO. He is also listed as a point of contact in Rosgvardiya food procurement tenders (1,2).

Kozak currently oversees logistics at Glavprodukt.

According to The Insider’s source, the “curators” arrived with Dolgov and effectively replaced the management team, taking control over the company’s finances, logistics, HR, and security operations. They now occupy the space that previously housed one of the company’s sales departments.

The Insider attempted to contact Glavprodukt’s “curators.” None of them responded to our questions. Oksana Sokolova asked for a written request, while Alexander Dolgov blocked our reporter’s number.

With reporting by Timur Olevsky.