In St. Petersburg, security forces raided the Baltika brewery. Two top managers of the company were detained, reports the United Press Service of the Courts of St. Petersburg.
According to Interfax, the searches are related to the sale of the enterprise by the owner of the Carlsberg plant. A case of fraud has been opened. By decision of the Vyborg District Court, the president and vice-president of the company, Denis Sherstennikov and Anton Rogachevsky, were taken into custody.
According to the investigation, they used their official position and, through deception, acquired the intellectual property right belonging to PC Baltika LLC in favor of Carlsberg Kazakhstan LLP and Vista BiUi Co LLC for the period from 2023 to 2042 for the implementation of PC Baltika LLC “export deliveries of our own products to the territory of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Mongolia, and Belarus.
Another suspect managed to leave the country, BFM.ru notes.
It is reported that after the announcement of the departure of the Carlsberg group from the Russian market in March 2022, the concern signed an agreement to sell the Russian business, without naming the name of the future owner of Baltika. The media reported that the Arnest group wanted to be the buyer, but the deal failed. As a result, the assets of the Danes in Russia went under the temporary management of the Federal Property Management Agency. Carlsberg announced an “illegal takeover of business in Russia” and plans to protect its assets.
According to Interfax, on October 17, Baltika filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg. The court prohibited Rospatent from state registration of termination of rights to use trademarks in relation to the brands Holsten, Kronenbourg, Tuborg, Seth & Riley`s and Garage. On November 15, the court granted Baltika’s request to consider the dispute with Carlsberg over licenses for several brands behind closed doors and postponed the hearing until December 13.
Source: Rosbalt
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