Co-owners of the Major car dealer invested in agribusiness in southern Russia

Declining grain prices in Russia does not stop some investors from expanding their agricultural business. Thus, the co-owners of the car dealer Major purchased a farm in the Stavropol Territory with more than 7 thousand hectares of agricultural land with an estimated value of 840 million rubles. and the production of vegetable snacks and soups under the La Batata brand. This category has its own group of consumers, but demand is held back by the relatively high price, experts say.

The consulting company TFTB, co-owners of the Major holding Pavel Abrosimov and Mikhail Bakhtiarov, became the owner of the agricultural enterprise OJSC Urozhainoye in the Stavropol Territory. The corresponding changes were made to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on September 13, Kommersant discovered. According to a Kommersant source, Urozhainoye manages more than 7 thousand hectares of agricultural land. The company grows wheat, corn, is engaged in dairy farming and produces vegetable snacks and soups under the La Batata brand, according to its website. The capacity of the vegetable processing workshop is 10 tons per day, as indicated in the company’s reporting. It also says that the owner of Urozhayny was previously Mark Tkachenko.

At the end of 2022, Major occupied third place in the AutoBusiness Review dealer rating for sales of new cars with an indicator of 25 thousand cars, behind Avtomir (28 thousand cars) and Rolf (25.47 thousand cars). Also includes the agricultural direction. Major Agro’s profile on Head Hunter states that the holding controls several farms in the Moscow and Tula regions with more than 30 thousand hectares of land, vineyards in Crimea, a tourist complex, the M2 Organic Club chain of stores and restaurants. The M2 farm and Urozhainy, part of the holding, did not answer Kommersant.

For the owners of Major, the purchase of Urozhaynoye, apparently, became the first investment in agricultural assets in the south of Russia, with the highest prices for agricultural land due to its proximity to ports. Sovecon estimates the average cost of agricultural land in the Stavropol Territory at the end of 2022 at 120 thousand rubles. for 1 ha. Thus, the Urozhaynoye lands alone could cost about 840 million rubles. General Director of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies Dmitry Rylko says that agricultural land in the south is always in demand among investors. But, he notes, the number of farms put up for sale in the southern regions has been growing recently, so a slight decline in asset prices is possible. As noted in BEFL’s August 2023 review, farmland remains an attractive investment destination, although asset price growth has stabilized this year.

At the same time, grain prices continue to decline. According to Sovecon, wheat of the third and fourth classes with pick-up in the center of Russia fell on average by 50–100 rubles, to 11.9–13 thousand rubles. per ton. “Demand from exporters was close to zero. Demand from local buyers was also low,” Reuters quoted analysts as saying.

With the purchase of Urozhayny, the owners of Major are also entering a new market for vegetable snacks and pureed soups. Before that, the holding’s portfolio included dairy and meat products, as well as drinks. Managing partner of Walnut Capital Artem Motorny says that the vegetable snacks segment can show quite good dynamics due to a low base, giving an increase in sales of individual products by 100–200%. But, he points out, the volume of this market segment is limited, distribution is actually reduced to such networks as “Azbuka Vkusa” and “Vkus Vill”, and the product itself is still relatively expensive, therefore, taking into account the decrease in the solvency of the population, the prospects look ambiguous.

A representative of Taste Villa says that the demand for vegetable snacks and puree soups is stable, such products have their own target group of buyers. According to the chain, the snack category is growing by an average of 30% year on year and the trend towards healthier snacking continues to gain momentum. According to the NielsenIQ retail audit, in the largest retail chains, sales of instant soups in January-August 2023 increased by 1.8% in volume compared to 5.5% a year earlier, and the growth rate of category sales in money decreased to 11% from 28 ,9%.

Anatoly Kostyrev