In a First, U.S. Firm Gets 51% in Soviet Venture

The United States and Soviet Union announced Tuesday the formation of the first joint venture between a Soviet government entity and a U.S. company in which the American partner will retain a majority interest.

The joint venture will import various specialty-food products whose distribution is under the monopoly control of the Soviet partner, the agricultural ministry. It will be called Torg International-- torg is Russian for “trade”--and based in northern New Jersey.

The U.S. partner in the arrangement is Cleveland Export Import Trade Co., a small, privately held firm. Company President George Carroll, of Russian extraction and fluent in that language, said his firm has committed $10 million as part of its 51% ownership and that the Soviets are putting up the balance in hard currency.

In return for the Soviet imports--projected to include beer, brandy, Georgian wine and sparkling wine, nuts and chocolates--his company would ship bottling, labeling and packaging equipment to the Soviet Union, he said.

Carroll made his comments at a Soviet Embassy news conference where he, partner Lev Model of the Cleveland firm and representatives of the Soviet agricultural ministry signed the contract.

He said he intends to make a household word out of Laggidzie bottled waters, a product of Soviet Georgia. Laggidzie, Carroll added, is a fruit-flavored mineral water popular in Georgia and produced by a 100-year-old concern that applies all its bottle labels by hand.

“We’re not upgrading their quality, only their efficiency,” he said.

The Soviet entities involved are Grosagroprom, the agriculture ministry, and Soyuzplodoimport, U.S.S.R. State Committee of Agriculture. Representatives of both took part in the signing ceremony.