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An American who fled from the Soviet Union in the 1970s and built a canned empire of $ 200 million is asking President Donald Trump to help rescue his company after the Russian authorities confiscated the business and its assets, according to the reports.
Leonid Smirnov of Los Angeles, California, told the New York Post that he is competing to save his company, Glavprodukt, which began in 1999 and grew to be known as Campbell de Russia.
Smirnov said that what is happening to his company is “a raid under an attempt to convulse and confiscation of the government.”
He also warned that if he could happen to him, he could happen to any of the hundreds of companies operating from the United States in Russia, especially after Russian President Vladimir Putin began to attack foreign companies after he ordered the troops invaded by Ukraine.
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A photo taken on February 1, 2022 shows the Vodovzvodnaya tower of Kremlin (L) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian building (R) in Moscow. ((Photo by Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP through Getty Images) / Getty Images)
In the last three years, almost a dozen businesses have been under the “temporary management” of the Russian authorities, and Glavprodukt was the first to be attacked.
Glavprodukt has become known in Russia for its canned soups, vegetables, fish and meats.
The company was also a crucial piece of the Smirnov Empire, which includes a mansion of 14,000 square feet and $ 20 million once rented by Paris Hilton in Los Angeles.
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The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, speaks during the Russian-Iraní meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace, on January 17, 2025, in Moscow, Russia. Fishshkian arrived in Moscow to sign the treaty with Putin. (Taxpayer / Getty Images / Getty Images)
Smirnov told The Post that in October 2024, three strangers appeared at the headquarters to take care of the business, and according to the businessman, they were sent to the business by Putin’s orders.
The orders demanded that the other assets of Glavprodukt and Smirnov under their American company, Universal Bevenge, placed under “temporal” management by the Russian authorities.
Smirnov states that his company has lost up to 30% of its value since the Russian authorities took over the business, which employed 1,000 workers among three factories.
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In addition to the losses, the main prosecutor of Russia, during the last month, accused Smirnov of illegally diverting millions of dollars to the United States, in addition to working with the United States towards the “strategic defeat” of Russia.
A court in Russia also ordered that the cash and assets connected with Glavprodukt, are incapted, all in an effort to force Smirnov to sell their company at a price much lower than its value.
Fox Business has communicated with Glavprodukt to comment.
Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of F-Fla., He stops to talk to journalists when he arrives at the subway Senate Capitol on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. ((Bill Clark / CQ-Roll Call, INC through Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was interviewed by Matthew Boyle of Breitbart News, when the first one was asked about the Russians who took several Western companies.
Boyle said that in October, the Russians took the first American company, Glavprodukt, which is owned by Universal Bevenge, before asking if that was something that Rubio and his team could use to press the Russians in the negotiations.
“Well, that will be part of a conversation,” said Rubio, before noticing that before something may happen, the embassy in Moscow has to work.
He continued, saying that once the embassy is functional, the State Department will invite Russia to speak.
“There are opportunities to work together, and obviously that will imply speak not only of Russian assets that have been seized by Europeans or the United States or what it has, but also US companies that have been injured,” Rubio said. “So that will have to be broad, part of a broader conversation on how to restore our relationships.”
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Even so, Smirnov fears that his company does not exist for when the United States and Russia will restore their relations.
Meanwhile, he told the post, he wants Trump to intervene and say that the companies owned by Putin American are out of the limits.
“I am asking President Trump to get involved and save my company, except all other US companies,” he said.
