Apples are sorted by investors
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French investors, who owned Alma Holding, a large apple producer through the Swiss Procuri SA together with Gennady Timchenko’s Volga Group, withdrew from the company’s capital. The share of 54% went to the ex-president of the International Ice Hockey Federation Rene Fasel. The deal could be required due to restrictions for foreign investors to manage business in the Russian Federation.
The owner of 54% of Alma Holding, the parent company of a large apple producer, where 46% belongs to the Volga Group structure of Gennady Timchenko, was a citizen of the Russian Federation Rene Fasel. Corresponding changes were made to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on February 10. Prior to this, 54% of Alma Holding was owned by the Swiss Procuri SA, whose beneficiaries were French businessmen called Kommersant’s sources.
Alma Holding was founded in 2007. Among the first investors was the head of the Direct Group (the former PPE Group, which invested, among other things, in Ozon) Pascal Clément. Then he left the project, and Jean-Claude Menn became the main owner. At the end of 2020, Mr. Menn was a member of the board of directors of Alma Holding, it follows from the statements.
Alma Production, controlled by Alma Holding, manages about 400 hectares of apple orchards in the Krasnodar Territory. In 2019, more than 13 thousand tons of fruits were harvested here, and in 2020, due to adverse weather conditions, 8.5 thousand tons, follows from the reporting. By 2023, Alma Production plans to double its harvest, according to its website.
Rene Fasel is mentioned in the media as the former president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), who served in this position from 1994-2021. According to TASS, Mr. Fasel was born in Switzerland, where he played for the Friborg-Gotteron hockey club, and then became a hockey referee. In 2015, as TASS reported, Rene Fasel was the chief referee of the gala match of the Night Hockey League, where Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gennady Timchenko also played.
According to Kommersant’s source in investment circles and Kommersant’s interlocutor in the agricultural market, Rene Fasel may own a stake in the interests of the owners of Procuri SA.
In the spring of 2022, Kommersant’s interlocutors said that French investors began looking for buyers for their stake in Alma Holding due to the crisis in connection with the military actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine and the expansion of Western sanctions against Gennady Timchenko. As one of Kommersant’s interlocutors notes, it has not been possible to agree on the sale of the asset today, and, apparently, they decided to transfer the share to a third party. Rene Fasel did not answer Kommersant’s questions sent via the e-mail specified in the EGRIP. The Volga Group does not comment on the changes. Contact with Procuri SA failed.
Gennady Timchenko, owner of Volga Group, about his interest in business in 2019, RBC:
“I have sanctions, what should I do. I’m sitting here and waiting for the dividends to be paid to me.
Senior partner at Pen & Paper, Anton Imennov, says that foreign structures from “unfriendly” jurisdictions generally have difficulty managing their business in the Russian Federation. “Unfriendly” LLC participants receive distributed profits only to a type C account, the withdrawal of funds from which is difficult, and cannot attract loans in foreign currency, he points out. In addition, Mr. Immenov notes, last October, the EU introduced into the legislation a rule that allows for the imposition of sanctions against persons who help those subject to restrictions to reduce the effect of measures.
Igor Mazilin, managing partner of Ingvarr, says that the transfer of ownership of shares in the business to a Russian partner relieves a headache for a foreign investor and simplifies the work of Russian business. Today, it will be easier for a completely Russian agricultural enterprise to receive state support measures, says Ekaterina Makeeva, partner of the A-Pro Law Office.
According to Andrey Neduzhko, CEO of Step Agroholding, Russian horticulture still has significant growth potential due to increased domestic apple production and import substitution. Russia remains the largest importer of apples, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). They predict that this season the Russian Federation can produce 1.54 million tons of apples, and import 550 thousand tons.
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