Russian canned food empire’s CEO begs Trump to help rescue him from Putin

A Soviet defector is now calling on President Donald Trump to save his business from the Russian government.

Leonid Smirnov, a Los Angeles resident who fled the Soviet Union in the 1970s, runs a canned-food business, Glavprodukt, that operates in Russia.

The problem is that the Russian government has reportedly seized the business and its assets.

“What’s happening with my company is a raid under a government seizure and confiscation attempt,” Smirnov told the New York Post.

Russian President has transferred the assets of the US Universal Beverage Company, operating in Russian market, including under the “Glavprodukt” brand, a canned food manufacturer, under the temporary management of the Federal Property Agency

US, say goodbye to this business pic.twitter.com/jItKuazY0m

— Neznakomaya❤ (@TomatkaP) October 15, 2024

And if this can happen to him, it can happen to any American company that’s operating in Russia.

If fact, about a dozen other companies — albeit non-American companies — have been targeted similarly, according to the Post.

“Smirnov’s Glavprodukt was the first American-owned company to be targeted, and is famous across the motherland for its canned soups, vegetables, fish, and meat,” the Post notes.

The beginning of the end for Smirnov started in October of 2024, when three of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s goons showed up at his business headquarters claiming that the company had been ordered to be put under “temporary” Russian government management.

In October 2024, three men infiltrated Glavprodukt, Russia’s top canned food producer. One claimed to be the new director general, asserting control over the company’s future, raising concerns about leadership changes in crucial industries. pic.twitter.com/VkGbbc2ikG

— Nyra Kraal (@NyraKraal) February 28, 2025

After the Russians took over, Smirnov’s company began experiencing major losses for the first time, hemorrhaging 30 percent of its value.

“We basically have this company being destroyed on a daily basis,” he told the Post, adding that the Russian government has even been firing top staffers for not being loyal enough.

Things have since gotten even worse.

“In the past month, [Russia’s] prosecutor general accused him of illegally siphoning millions of dollars to the US and of joining with Washington in seeking the ‘strategic defeat’ of Russia,” the Post notes.

“Two weeks ago, a court ordered the seizure of cash and assets connected to Glavprodukt. Russian prosecutors claimed he had been illegally sending dividends from the business to the U.S.,” the reporting continues.

Smirnov believes these tactics are part of a campaign to pressure him to sell his business to the Russian government at a really cheap price.

“I put 26 years of my life into that … building this company from scratch,” he said. “And I have 1,000 people, some of them were with me for 20 plus years. It’s like a family.”

That said, he’s glad as hell that Trump is in charge here in the states versus former Vice President Kamala Harris.

“If Kamala Harris had won the election I don’t think me, my company, or any other American business in Russia would have a chance, a single chance, to be saved,” he said.

With the Trump administration meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested last month that Glavprodukt will be part of any discussions involving U.S.-Russia relations, but only after the Russia-Ukraine war is first solved.

“There are opportunities to work together, and obviously that’s going to entail talking about not just Russian assets that have been seized by – by the Europeans or the U.S. or what have you, but also American companies that have been hurt,” he told Breitbart News at the time.

“So that’ll have to be broad – part of a broader conversation about how to reset our relations. We’re not at that step yet. I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. None of that’s even possible. We can’t even really talk about those things or fix those things until we bring this war at least to some sort of enduring ceasefire, hopefully, permanent end,” he added.

The problem this time is that Smirnov fears his company will no longer even exist by the time the Trump administration takes action. That’s why Smirnov is now calling on Trump to get directly involved.

“I am asking President Trump to get involved and save my company, save all other American companies,” he said.

Senior Staff Writer
[email protected]

V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

Latest posts by Vivek Saxena (see all)

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.