The main producer of sunflower oil in Russia may change ownership

Owner of the Agrocomplex named after N. I. Tkachev, ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev can make a new major purchase. According to Kommersant’s sources, the structures acting in its interests want to acquire the main producer of sunflower oil in the Russian Federation, Yug Rusi, where the leadership has already changed. The deal, which is valued at 40 billion rubles, will allow the buyer to gain a foothold in a profitable market, the prospects of which analysts associate with exports.

Acting in the interests of the ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev, owner of the Agrocomplex. N. I. Tkachev of the structure plans to acquire the Yug Rusi Group of Companies, the main producer of sunflower oil in the Russian Federation, four sources of Kommersant who know about the deal told Kommersant.

According to one of them, the group has already changed leadership. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, on August 30, Kamil Muzafarov became the general director of the head structures of the group OOO MEZ Yug Rusi and OOO Yug Rusi. As head of the “South of Rus'”, he replaced Dmitry Kislov, the son of the founder and owner of the group, Sergei Kislov.

In July, Kamil Muzafarov established LLC Resurs in Moscow with the main activity of “holding companies”. This structure can become a buyer of the South of Rus’, Kommersant sources say. As follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, on July 20, 100% of “Resource” were pledged in the Moscow Credit Bank (MKB), and on July 21, the share of “South of Rus'” in “MEZ South of Rus'” was transferred to the pledge of MKB.

Dmitry Gabyshev, managing director of Peregrine Capital, says that Resurs “apparently raises money from the bank by pledging shares, but since the empty company has no assets, the bank also receives shares in the purchased structure as collateral.”

The Yug Rusi Group of Companies assured that the change of the general director is connected with the “usual rotation of management.” General Director of the Agrocomplex named after N. I. Tkachev Evgeny Khvorostina, the press service of the holding and the MKB did not promptly answer Kommersant’s questions. It was not possible to contact “Resource” and Kamil Muzafarov.

“South of Rus” unites nine oil plants, elevators, a port terminal in the waters of the Azov-Black Sea basin. The brand portfolio includes the brands Zolotaya Semechka, Zlato, Avedov, and others. In the 2021/22 season, Yug Rusi provided 12% of the output of crude sunflower oil and 28% of bottled, according to the Rusagro report. According to Kommersant’s data from market participants, Yug Rusi was the largest oil exporter last season, shipping over 399,000 tons. The group is also engaged in the export of grain.

Agrocomplex them. N. I. Tkachev has already been called the beneficiary of transactions in which structures not formally related to the holding participated. So, in 2022, the owner of the agribusiness of the Czech PPF Group was the Land Reserve LLC, which then belonged to Yevgeny Svistula, and Yug Rusi sold agricultural land to Andrey Sheikin’s Agrotechnologies LLC. Since then, Agrocomplex has been posting vacancies on HeadHunter for RAV Agro structures and former Yug Rus structures.

According to a Kommersant source, the South of Rus’ business under the deal can be estimated at about 40 billion rubles. excluding debt. For Agrocomplex, this may be an investment in a market where the holding has not yet been prominently represented.

Today, according to its own data, the holding ranks second in the Russian Federation in the production of milk and rice, and fifth in the production of meat and sugar. BEFL estimates the holding’s land bank as of May this year at 1.1 million hectares. In 2022, the revenue of Agrocomplex increased by 9.9%, to 78.9 billion rubles, net profit increased by 24.3%, to 10.68 billion rubles. year by year.

Andrey Sizov, director of Sovecon, says that the profitability of oil refineries remains excellent, oil production is at a record pace, given the good supply of raw materials due to protective duties on sunflower exports.

Director General of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies Dmitry Rylko notes that the factories of the “South of Rus'” “may not be the newest, but they are distinguished by a good location.” Attractiveness is also added by the presence of a grain and oilseed terminal, which allows building a good export program, adds Mr. Rylko. The domestic market, according to Mr. Sizov, may be less interesting for such a business due to “stagnation in demand and the risks of state price regulation.”

Anatoly Kostyrev