HAK firmly defends Russian owner

“Russia has made a monstrous mistake”, the owner of food giant HAK took an emotional stand against the war in Ukraine. This statement is striking because the owner, Denis Shtengelov, is Russian.

“Nothing has meaning anymore”

“As long as the war is ongoing, I see no other purpose in life, except to let it come to a standstill”, Shtengelov writes in an open letter. In the middle of last year, the Dutch canned food producer HAK was sold to Shtengelov’s KDV Group, a Russian food producer. 

Shtengelov has been living in Australia for over ten years, but still feels the need to firmly and personally condemn the war in Ukraine. He calls the declaration of war a monstrous and irreparable mistake and calls it his obligation to do “everything possible and impossible to stop this madness”.

Nothing else even makes sense, according to the entrepreneur: he says he has devoted 25 years to making sure that KDV Group became “a leading player on the Russian and some international food markets”, but “today none of that has any meaning”. He closes his statement with a strong call for peace.

Pressured because of Russian ties

The letter had been made public following critical questions in the media regarding the relationship between HAK and its Russian owner. Neerlands Glorie Groente & Fruit, HAK’s parent company, fully endorses the letter’s contents. HAK is also sending about six lorries filled with food parcels to Ukraine.

The company further emphasises that it operates entirely independently in financial and operational terms and does not source any materials or products from Russia. “No dividend is paid to the Russian shareholder, as the HAK board and management team are completely Dutch”, the Dutch subsidiary emphasises. Furthermore, the company’s focus is on growth in the Benelux countries and Germany.