Ukrainian “Rollton” with a Kremlin flavor: how the Cypriot jungle helped the Vietnamese get rid of SBU claims

“Mivina” and “Rollton” are two of the most famous brands of instant noodles in Ukraine. Both were founded by Vietnamese businessmen. But Mivina managed to stay on the Ukrainian market. Unlike Rollton, which in 2022 survived claims from security forces, and subsequently accusations of financing separatism, and when the case died down, it seemed to pack up and leave Ukraine.

Summer 2022. Several months have passed since the Armed Forces of Ukraine managed to liberate the Kiev region from the occupiers. The whole world saw Bucha, Irpen and Borodyanka. Currently, the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine is opening proceedings under Part 4 of Article 110-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine - financing of separatism - against the manufacturer of Rollton noodles.

At that time, the owner of the plant in Bila Tserkva was Mareven Food Europe LLC, which belonged to Mareven food holdings limited. Although the holding is registered in Cyprus, its main owner is Vietnamese millionaire Dang Khac Vy. He is also the chairman of the board of the Vietnamese commercial bank VIB and one of many representatives from that country developing the food business in Eastern European countries, including Ukraine and Russia.

You graduated from the Moscow Geological Prospecting University (Russia) with a degree in geological engineering. Subsequently, he received a PhD in economics from the Russian Academy of Sciences. Since the 2000s, he founded the company Mareven Food Holding, which operates fast food factories in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

It was the connections with the occupying country that the SBU became interested in in the summer of 2022. During the pre-trial investigation, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies found out that the ultimate owner of the beneficiary LLC Mareven Food Europe, which owns the plant in Bila Tserkva, is the company Mareven food holdings limited, registered in the Republic of Cyprus. At the same time, the founder of the company Mareven food holdings limited, through the Cyprus company Future Generation Holdings Limited, is the investment firm Orange Moon Investment Limited. The director of the latter is a citizen of the Russian Federation, at the same time the secretary of the company “Mareven food holdings limited”.

From the Cypriot registries we managed to find out that we are talking about Leila Beydieva.

Her profile on the professional social network LinkedIN notes that she graduated from Moscow State Linguistic University with a degree in civil law. She also works as a translator and notes that her native language is Russian.

At the same time, the Cypriot Mareven food holdings limited is the founder of the Russian company Mareven Food Central LLC with production in the Moscow region. According to the registers of the Russian Federation, the revenue of this company for 2023 amounted to 29 billion rubles, which is 8% more than in 2022.

That is, the Cypriot “Mareven food holdings limited”, whose management includes a citizen of the Russian Federation, is at the same time the founder of both Ukrainian and Russian companies.

The Ukrainian investigation adds that since 2019, Mareven Food Europe LLC, which manages the Ukrainian plant, has entered into agreements with Mareven Food Central LLC (Russia) for the supply of products produced in Ukraine to the Russian Federation and ensuring their sale in the country. aggressor, contracts for the purchase of goods and materials from the Russian Federation, funds are paid in favor of the above-mentioned resident of the Russian Federation, incl. royalties for the introduction of the Russian trademark “Rollton” and funds in favor of companies resident in the Russian Federation for advertising videos “Russian Italy”.

Since both the Ukrainian and Russian companies are subordinate to the parent company from Cyprus, financial relations between them could indeed exist. As for the “Rollton” trademark, it is registered in Ukraine. However, in August 2020, the Intellectual Rights Court of the Russian Federation decided to recognize the Rollton trademark as well-known in Russia.

While the Ukrainian investigation revealed connections that, in principle, had been known for many years, the leaders of the Mareven food corporation did not sit idle. At the end of July 2022, Mareven food holdings limited sells the Ukrainian company Mareven Food Europe LLC to Jelmond LTD, which has exactly the same Cyprus address as another company led by the mentioned Leyla Beydieva.

That is, in fact, the owners of the Ukrainian enterprise have not changed, but for the investigation, everything looks as if the new owners had to start their activities completely from scratch. After all, the sales agreement states that Jelmond LTD will not be able to use the Rollton trademark. In addition, the name of Mareven Food Europe LLC was changed to Euro Food Service LLC.

The investigation into the Rollton case lasted from June to December 2022. During this period, the courts seized the property and accounts of Mareven Food Europe LLC. They were transferred to the Asset Tracing and Management Agency (ARMA). In September 2022, the company announced the shutdown of the plant and at the same time voiced its position that it allegedly has no connections with the Russians. “From the beginning of the operation of Mareven Food Holdings ltd to this day, not a single legal entity of the Russian Federation or a citizen of the Russian Federation has been the owner of a share of the authorized capital,” the statement says.

The refutation looks legally justified, because Russian citizens were not directly the owners of any capital in the Cypriot company. The only connection here can be traced only through the secretary Leyla Beydiev. After all, she is listed as the director of another company associated with Mareven food holdings.

In August 2022, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, together with the SBU, began to check the circumstances of a possible change in the owner of Mereven Food Europe LLC. In particular, the committee determined whether there was a change of ownership by concentration and whether it required permission from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine. And most importantly, the committee’s employees pursued the goal of establishing whether these actions had signs of intentions to hide the real beneficial owners or their connection with Russia.

And now, after all the arrests of accounts, searches and transfers to ARMA, on December 29, 2022, the Ukrainian investigation unexpectedly closed the case against Mareven Food Europe LLC due to the lack of corpus delicti. After this, there was no movement on the case.

At the same time, according to the Vietnamese branch of the Russian propaganda publication Sputnik, the Vietnam Expo 2023 exhibition was held in Hanoi in April 2023, at which more than 40 Russian companies were represented. Among them is “Mareven Food Central” (Mareven Food Central LLC), which owns a plant in the Moscow region.

The Vietnamese note that this company “owns the instant noodle brand Rollton, which is one of the TOP 50 famous brands, and is also a market leader in the categories of mashed potatoes and instant noodles.”

Director of the Export Trade Department at Mareven Food Central Sergei Komarov, in a conversation with the publication, noted: Vietnam is a comprehensive strategic partner of Russia. Economic cooperation between the two countries is actively developing.”

Let us remind you once again that the Cypriot Mareven food holdings limited, which owned the Ukrainian enterprise in Bila Tserkva, but skillfully transferred it to another controlled structure, is still the owner of the Russian Mareven Food Central. And if the export director of the latter tells the Vietnamese media about the “comprehensive partnership between Russia and Vietnam,” then this position fully reflects the opinion of the owners of the parent company.

Vietnam has been subject to Russia for quite a long time, and after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, this position has not changed in any way. Moreover, during the coronavirus pandemic in the world, official Ho Chi Minh City completely closed its borders. After their opening, visas to the country began to be issued to citizens of almost all countries, and Ukrainians were refused until September 2023. Ukrainians who have permanent residence permits in this country told the publication about this. Of course, no one officially announced that entry was prohibited for Ukrainians, but in fact it was so.

In the context of the above, I would like to ask Ukrainian law enforcement officers why the case against Mareven Food Europe LLC, which is managed by a company that simultaneously continues to do business in Russia, was closed? Fictitious correspondence of an enterprise to other Cypriots and Vietnamese still leads to the same owners. Moreover, the parent company does not hide the fact that it considers the Russian market the most promising.

Our journalists will send a request to the SBU, which will ask the above questions. After all, closing the case against Rollton is actually playing along with the enemy and ignoring Ukrainian laws.