Even more controversial was when Rosspirtprom searched the offices of Sojuzplodoimport
(SPI) to look for "evidence of malpractice". As the former State import/export
monopoly, SPI became a joint stock company in 1992, and is now owned by several
private investors, with the government retaining a minority stake, after a management
buy-out in 1996. SPI has long held the export rights to 49 classic trademarks
including Stolichnaya, Moskovskaya, Limmonaya and Okhotnichaya, while also licensing
local production in export markets.

Rosspirtprom claims to control 18 major branches of Russia’s vodka production
though the state’s holdings handed over to the monopoly consisted of 105 such
companies. However, since many of them represent associations consisting of
several distilleries, the real number of companies controlled one way or another
by Rosspirtprom exceeds 200.

The state interest in various companies fluctuates from single-figure percentages
to the controlling stake. Rosspirtprom now controls the Moscow-based Cristall
distillery, Irkutsk-based Kedr, and Samara-based Rodnik. Rosspirtprom will have
a smaller but nonetheless significant influence in the Novosibirsk-based VINAP

(33%) and Kaliningrad-based SPI-RVVK.

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