Brand "Fragrant World" was born in October 1998 and in its 12-year history has traveled from one Cash & Carry store to the largest chain of specialized wine supermarkets in Russia.
Today "Fragrant World" is more than 130 stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Tver, Yaroslavl, Veliky Novgorod and other cities of the European part of Russia. According to a 2006 study by the COMCON agency, the Fragrant World network was among the ten most famous retail chains in the capital. According to the results of surveys conducted by Business Analytics in 2008, the quality of staff work and the assortment of Fragrant World stores were highly appreciated by customers - 9.5 points out of 10 possible.
History
2025: Corporate conflict between co-owners of the company
A corporate conflict erupted in the Fragrant World chain of alcohol stores between co-owners of the business. In early March 2025, it became known that the co-founder of the company Valery Zadorin filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court against his brother Pavel Zadorin, who owns a controlling stake. In the statement, the plaintiff demands the cancellation of one of the agreed transactions, the details of which are not disclosed.
According to Kommersant, in parallel with the litigation on March 1-2, 2025, the company's website and loyalty program ceased to function, and customers massively received notifications about the blocking of cards and the inaccessibility of accumulated points. At the same time, in official accounts on social networks, the company explained the situation with a technical failure, assuring that all stores, bonuses and customer cards are operating normally.
According to SPARK, in the ownership structure of AM Retail LLC, which manages the network, Pavel Zadorin owns 57.5% of the shares, Valery Zadorin - 32.5%, and the remaining 10% are divided equally between four other founders with the name Zadorina: Alexander, Mikhail, Anna and Sofia - 2.5% each.
The chronology of the conflict began back in November 2024, when Valery Zadorin filed a lawsuit against AM Retail LLC demanding access to the company's documents. As Olga Karpova, a lawyer and partner of Olga Renova and Partners, notes, such a requirement indirectly may indicate that the plaintiff was probably denied the right to receive information about the activities of the company. The second lawsuit, sent directly to Pavel Zadorin, may indicate that Valery Zadorin considers the deal concluded by another co-owner to be unprofitable for business.
Forward Legal lawyer Lyudmila Lukyanova believes that a possible dispute could affect not only companies associated directly with the Fragrant World network, but also other societies in which the Zadorin brothers are co-founders.[1]