Court fines Svetofor discounter for moldy and expired products

The Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar region fined LLC Torgservis 23, which manages the Svetofor chain of stores in the region, 300,000 rubles (approximately $3,300 at current rates). The company was found guilty of violating technical regulations when selling food products (Part 2 of Article 14.43 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation).

Earlier, Rospotrebnadzor (the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing) inspected outlets in Sochi, Novorossiysk, Korenovsk, Yeysk, Abinsk, Krymsk, Krasnodar, the stanitsa of Kushchyovskaya, and other settlements in the region.

It was found that the stores sold products without mandatory labeling—there was no information about the date of production, expiration date, manufacturer, or storage conditions. Furthermore, the sales areas contained goods with expired shelf life, including items with mold and unpleasant odors.

For example, in Abinsk, the Svetofor store was found to have completely unlabeled «Kiev-style» cutlets without any tags or accompanying data. In the stanitsa of Staroderevyankovskaya, customers were offered expired chips, and in the stanitsa of Maryanskaya—frozen chum salmon with a dark color and a sharp smell.

In the khutor of Kulik, refrigerators contained spoiled and expired products, among which were «Pyatigorskaya» sour cream, a dessert made from vegetable fats with cherry filling, «Doctor»s« boiled sausage, »Family with garlic« sausage, and dried pink salmon.

In total, specialists recorded 20 violations. The court ordered the destruction of all products sold in violation of the requirements. The decision can be appealed within ten days.

The Svetofor chain of stores has previously had problems with supervisory authorities. In late February 2025, Rospotrebnadzor launched large-scale inspections of discounters across the country and identified violations of sanitary requirements—including in meat, dairy products, and canned goods. Following the inspections, more than 300 tons of goods were withdrawn from circulation, and the stores were fined almost 1.2 million rubles (approximately $13,300 at current rates).

The reason for the inspections was an instruction from First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov after an appeal by State Duma deputy Sergei Lisovsky. He reported the sale of goods without labeling and veterinary documents, as well as violations of trade laws and problems with payments to suppliers.