By Anna Hirtenstein and Alexander Marrow
LONDON (Reuters) -A U.S.-owned canned food company seized by Russia to safeguard domestic food supplies is planning to boost dwindling sales with exports to China and North Korea, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and people familiar with the matter.
Washington has said the treatment of Glavprodukt, the only U.S. company Moscow has seized, will influence a planned reset of U.S.-Russia relations which appear to have stalled.
Glavprodukt, the largest canned food producer in Russia, was founded by Los Angeles-based Leonid Smirnov and seized by the Kremlin in October 2024. Moscow argued that the company is of strategic importance to Russia’s food supply.
Sales have dropped sharply, documents showed. Production has remained at similar levels, so the oversupply has left the company trying to find new markets and increase its warehouse capacity, according to strategy documents and two people familiar with the matter.
“They claimed they took my company to secure food for Russia. But they are not living up to this purpose, this justification,” Smirnov told Reuters.
Smirnov is fighting in court to regain his company. The next hearing is scheduled for July 11 at the Moscow Court of Arbitration.
In June, Glavprodukt’s new state-appointed management team proposed exporting to new markets, including North Korea and the Middle East, the documents seen by Reuters showed. They also sought to increase sales to China, a market that made up about one percent of Glavprodukt’s sales last year.
Glavprodukt’s new management did not respond to multiple emailed requests for comment.
The strategy shift shows how Russia’s trade has changed since invading Ukraine. Trade with North Korea, China and other countries that have not imposed sanctions against Russia can take place outside Western influence.
Glavprodukt’s pivot appears inconsistent with Vladimir Putin’s position on June 27 in Minsk that he wants to welcome American companies back to Russia.
Negotiations between the U.S. and Russia over the war in Ukraine have stalled with President Donald Trump expressing disappointment after a July 3 phone call with Putin.
Separately, relations between the U.S. and China have deteriorated since Trump targeted China with trade tariffs, leading to retaliation from Beijing. The two countries agreed to a trade framework last month but the U.S. had said it may restore tariffs on Chinese goods in August.
The Kremlin’s plans for Glavprodukt reflect Russia’s approach to managing foreign-owned assets under state control.
