Don Agro

History

2024: UMMC co-founder buys Don Agro assets

A group of structures associated with the co-founder of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC) Iskandar Makhmudov acquired the assets of the Don Agro crop holding from its former owner, ex-deputy of the State Duma Yevgeny Tugolukov. This became known on August 8, 2024. The estimated amount of the transaction amounted to ₽7 -8 billion.

According to Kommersant, the main owner of Don Agro LLC and Don Muchnov LLC in early July was Prostory Agroholding JSC, and Volga-Agro JSC became the property of Aldan ZPIF. Previously, these assets were controlled by Tetra JSC, the beneficiary of which was Yevgeny Tugolukov.

Freepik

According to experts interviewed by the publication, Tugolukov sold agribusiness in order to focus on the development of his Medskan network of medical centers, which included Rosatom in 2022.

The land bank of the Don Agro holding by August 2024 is 67.3 thousand hectares, of which 17.2 thousand hectares are owned. The company's grain storage capacity reaches 105 thousand tons. In addition, the business portfolio includes 4 thousand heads of cattle.

According to Andrey Sizov, director of the Sovekon agency, the profitability of the crop business in Russia has been declining over the past few years, approaching zero, which may contribute to an increase in the number of such transactions. The trend is explained by high export duties on grain export and restrictions on the import of material and technical resources.

According to the consulting company BEFL, the structures of Iskandar Makhmudov and his partners have been actively investing in the agricultural sector for the past few years. Thus, the Cosminvest company, which since the beginning of 2024 has been the founder of Kosminvest LLC, was previously controlled through Violan LLC by Iskandar Makhmudov himself. According to BEFL, Kosminvest ranks 21st among the largest owners of agricultural land in Russia, controlling 258 thousand hectares.^[1]

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