A partner of Iskandar Makhmudov became a co-owner of the seed supplier Ruseed

The team of ex-president of UMMC Iskandar Makhmudov, developing agricultural projects, became interested in seed production. The businessman’s partner, Ivan Yuzefovich, became a co-owner of the seed supplier Ruseed, which is preparing to invest 3 billion rubles in business expansion. Regulators are seeking to replace the import of seeds, but, as experts point out, such projects are expensive and take a long time to pay off.

The partner of the ex-president of UMMC Iskandar Makhmudov, whose fortune Forbes estimates at $7.3 billion, Ivan Yuzefovich became a co-owner of the seed supplier Ruseed, follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. On September 27, Mr. Yuzefovich received 100% of Urban Construction Solutions LLC, which owns 50% each of Rusid LLC, Russian Selection LLC and NPO Russian Selection LLC. The remaining 50% in these companies through Proinvest LLC is controlled by Ruseed managing partner Mark Gekht, Dmitry Denisenkov and Maria Michelle Weinstein, as follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.

Ivan Yuzefovich was a member of the board of directors of UMMC structures. Today he owns 30% of KM Group LLC, which is controlled by Iskandar Makhmudov through Violan LLC. Another structure of Ivan Yuzefovich, Investcom LLC, owns the AFG National agricultural holding, which has about 180 thousand hectares of agricultural land on its balance sheet. And Violan owns 50% of Kosminvest (as of May of this year it managed 258 thousand hectares of land, according to BEFL). Earlier it became known about the creation of a joint venture by Kosminvest with Shchelkovo Agrokhim for the production of oilseeds (see Kommersant on July 11). Investcom and Ruseed did not provide comments, Mark Gecht did not answer questions.

Ruseed supplies sunflower, soybean and flax seeds. According to its own data, it operates in 20 regions and includes 100 hybrid testing points. The area of ​​land sown with the company’s hybrids is estimated at 200 thousand hectares. It is part of a consortium created for the development of sunflower hybrids, together with the Bio-ton agricultural holding of the head of the Union of Grain Exporters Eduard Zernin and a large manufacturer of fat and oil products, GC Efko (brands Sloboda, Altero).

The emergence of a new co-owner of Ruseed may be associated with the company’s plans to expand its business. In August 2023, Interfax, citing Mark Hecht, reported Ruseed’s intention to invest 3 billion rubles. to the center of selection and seed production, greenhouse complex and production of corn and sunflower hybrids. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ruseed complex for the production of sunflower seeds with a capacity of 10 thousand tons should be launched before the end of 2023.

The Ministry of Agriculture advocates accelerating the substitution of seed imports. From September 1, 2023, foreign producers must create joint ventures with local organizations with a non-resident share of no more than 49%, carry out full-cycle selection and report on localization. In addition, from October 1 to December 31 of the same year, the Ministry of Agriculture may introduce quotas on the import of seeds of some crops from a number of countries. The National Seed Alliance, whose forecast is provided by Agroinvestor, expects an increase in the share of local sunflower seeds in 2024 from the current 26% to 44%, and hybrids from 11% to 24%.

Sovecon director Andrei Sizov notes that the new co-owner of Ruseed apparently believes in the power of protectionist measures and plans to develop a separate area of ​​seed production. But, he notes, there are other large local players among sunflower seed suppliers, and this business is expensive. In addition, the expert says, the burden on Russian agricultural producers continues to grow – for example, flax, chickpeas and peas were subject to new export duties, and therefore the prospects for local crop production do not look very rosy.

General Director of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies Dmitry Rylko notes that seed production projects allow owners of agricultural holdings to improve the supply of seed materials and make money from selling them to other market participants. According to him, the development of such production requires long-term investment and “careful protectionism measures with stable rules of the game,” effective copyright protection, incentives for global suppliers to work in Russia and support for local players.

Anatoly Kostyrev