“Baltika” company asks the Kremlin to protect its brands

The management of the Russian brewing company “Baltika” appealed to the administration of the President of Russia with a request for help in protecting its brands in the “friendly” countries of Moscow.

“Vedomosti” wrote about this on Friday, noting that the first vice-president of “Baltika” Alexander Dedegkaev appealed to the head of the presidential administration Anton Vaino. The publication writes that it got acquainted with the content of his letter, addressed to Vaino.

In the letter, Dedegkaev asks for the intervention of “Rospatent” to propose to the relevant departments in Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, as well as in Mongolia to suspend the registration of license agreements for the use of the group’s main brands in these countries. “Baltyka” and names associated with this brand are among them, noted “Vedomosti”.

According to the vice-president of Baltika, contracts on behalf of the company were concluded by a person whose powers were terminated on July 17. It is not specified who exactly we are talking about. But in the letter to Anton Vaino, it is said that the rights to the “Baltika” trademarks in the listed countries were granted for 20 years (with the possibility of automatic extension for the same period) by the structure of the Danish holding Carlsberg.

The press secretary of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, was asked on Friday whether Vladimir Putin’s entourage confirms the receipt of such a letter and whether negotiations are underway on this matter. Peskov replied that “we do not comment on official correspondence.” “I can confirm that this topic exists, that this topic has repeatedly appeared and that the president is well aware of this topic. Naturally, we have defended the domestic manufacturer and will continue to defend it to the end,” Dmitry Peskov added.

• The Danish concern Carlsberg Group, which owns the Baltika brewing company, has announced that it will suspend investments in Russia and supplies of imported beer in March 2022 – after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The company announced that it will sell its Russian assets.
• In June, the sale of the manufacturer for 200 million euros to an unnamed buyer was announced. The deal was thwarted by the decree of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin, who transferred “Baltika” to the temporary administration of the state. Later, the head of Carlsberg, Jacob Arup-Andersen, accused Russia of “stealing business”.