Putin puts AgroTerra assets under management of Property Agency

MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax) - President Vladimir Putin signed an order on April 8 to place the assets of AgroTerra Group under the management of the Federal Property Agency.

Under the order, which was posted on the official website for legal information, the Property Agency will take over management of 99% of AgroFinance Capital (owned by AgroTerra Investments B.V.), 1% of AgroFinance Capital (owned by Agro Investments Ltd.); and 99% of AgroTerra LLC (owned by AgroTerra Investments B.V.), 0.9% of AgroTerra LLC (owned by Agro Investments Ltd.) and 0.1% of AgroTerra LLC (owned by AgroFinance Capital LLC).

The agency will also take over management of 50.1% of AgroSistema-Regiony LLC (owned by AgroSistema LLC) and 49.9% of AgroSistema-Regiony (owned by NAP Finance B.V.); and 50.1% of AgroSistema LLC (owned by AgroSistema-Regiony LLC) and 49.9% of AgroSistema LLC (owned by NAP Finance B.V.).

AgroTerra Group was formed in 2008 by NCH Capital Inc., an investment company founded by U.S. businessman George Rohr, according to Forbes. His companies owned more than 800,000 hectares of land in Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Romania and Kazakhstan in 2012.

In Russia, the group has 24 farms in Tula, Ryazan, Penza, Kursk, Tambov, Lipetsk and Oryol regions, and elevators with capacity for more than 500,000 tonnes. AgroTerra grows, stores and sells crops such as soybean, wheat, sugar beet, sunflower seeds and rapeseeds. As of the middle of 2023, it was one of the 20 largest agribusiness groups in Russia by cultivated land area, with 265,000 hectares, according to consulting firm BEFL.