Soyuzplodoimport (russian: Союзплодоимпорт, , Union-fruit-import) is a company based in
Moscow. Its owns the trademarks of different types of
vodka, including the
Stolichnaya
Stolichnaya (russian: Столичная) is a vodka made of wheat and rye grain. It is a well-known Soviet brand. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the ownership of Stolichnaya has been disputed between the Russian state-owned compan ...
and
Moskovskaya brands. The company also markets canned herrings under its Stolichnaya brand as part of a partnership with Russian Sea Group.
Soyuzplodoimport was established in 1966 to import food items, including cocoa beans, coffee, spices and vegetables, and to export vodka.
The company was not privatized, and remained under state ownership in the post-Soviet era.
In 1997, its then-president
Yuri Shefler formed a new private company, Soyuzplodimport (almost the same name as the government-owned company, minus an 'o').
The new private entity then purchased some of Russia's main vodka brands from the government-owned Soyuzplodoimport for $300,000.
An investigation by the
Audit Commission valued the trademarks at $400 million, and in October 2001 a Russian court ruled Soyuzplodoimport was illegally privatized, and restored 17 vodka brands under its ownership.
In 2015, Soyuzplodoimport managed to win court cases against Shefler and regain control of the brand in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, but the decision was not final.
References
External links
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Drink companies of Russia
Drink companies of the Soviet Union
Food and drink companies based in Moscow
Ministry of Foreign Trade (Soviet Union)
Government-owned companies of Russia
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