The American owners of the Russian company dealt an insidious blow to Crimean winemaking
The largest wineries in Crimea may stop production for at least six months due to American sanctions.
RBC writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The reason is that one of the two main suppliers of glass bottles for wine, the Kavminsteklo company, changed its owner and included American shareholders, who, fearing repressive measures from the US Treasury, ordered management to stop cooperation with Crimea.
The publication cites a letter from the chairman of the association of winegrowers and winemakers “Sevastopol” Alexey Lipko to State Duma deputy Dmitry Belik, which reveals the essence of the problem.
“As a result of the sale of the group of companies, control passed to American shareholders. Following the change of shareholders, a change in the general director of the company followed, ”writes Lipko.
The new head of the enterprise, Aleksandrs Pavlovs, according to the winegrower, said that “following the economic sanctions imposed by the United States against Crimea, he stops any cooperation with bottle consumers located in Crimea.”
Today there is no one to replace the supplier of containers; this, according to the publication, will take six to nine months, which promises companies huge losses at the height of the holiday season on the peninsula: “Large private and state-owned companies Massandra, Novyi Svet, Inkerman and The Sevastopol winery will suffer enormous losses in connection with a stoppage of production at the very peak of the tourist season in Crimea. ”
Winemakers on the peninsula are perplexed, because the Kavminsteklo company is a resident of the Russian Federation. “This is an amazing story, since the company is registered in Russia, it pays taxes to the budget, but refuses to supply to Crimea,” notes Pavel Shvets, founder of Uppa Winery.
According to RBC, Kavminsteklo is owned by a consortium of the American Apollo Global Management Fund and the French state investment bank BPI France: “Among strategic investors, Apollo Global Management is the largest US pension fund California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS).”
State Duma deputy, Sevastopol resident Dmitry Belik, who received an appeal from winemakers, sent appeals to the leadership of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Prosecutor General's Office, the plenipotentiary representatives of the Southern and North Caucasus federal districts and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
According to Crimean political scientist Denis Baturin, the current situation poses a new threat to the peninsula, when companies that have already worked with Crimean enterprises are bought out by foreign shareholders and withdraw their business.
“The US citizen gives the command not to work with Crimea. New sanctions case: a Russian enterprise not only does not come to Crimea, it stops cooperation with Crimea as a result of a change in management and shareholders... There is a difference - state corporations and Sberbank (Sberbank - author) did not come to Crimea, but this campaign stops working with Crimea for political reasons. Not in 2014, but now,” Baturin said in his blog.
In the comments under his message, users criticized the decision of the company operating in Russia and suggested taking repressive measures against it.
“Nationalize the plant. Since he is acting against the interests of the country. Prohibit the exit of goods outside the country,” writes Andrei Karatovsky.
“Any shareholder does not make decisions in a vacuum, especially in Russia, where he works and makes a profit,” adds Denis Baturin.
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