The Lomonosov Imperial manufacture of porcelains will remain Russian, a Saint Petersburg court decided on October 8th 1999. Some American investors had bought shares of the manufacture but Russian authorities did not want to see such cultural institution fall into foreign hands.
Russian officials said that employees of the manufacture feared for their future if it was privatised. Bloomberg, the American-Russian Investment fund set up in 1995 had become a partner of the manufacture after acquiring almost 50% of its shares in September 1998 but a few months later the Russian ministry in charge of State properties had asked for a cancellation of such participation.
Some 1 800 people work for the manufacture set up in 1744. It has recorded a US $ 4 million turnover during the first six months of 1999. The manufacture houses a museum with a collection of some 25,000 pieces, including many drawings produced by avant-garde artists such as Malevitch or Kandinsky who worked for the manufacture at one time. These drawings alone could be worth several millions of dollars, one of its officials said.
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