General director of Russia's UGC Dmitry Sergeyev may head Union of Grain Exporters

MOSCOW. Dec 13 (Interfax) - The general director of United Grain Company (UGC), Dmitry Sergeyev, may take over as head of the Union of Grain Exporters starting next year, with his deputy Kseniya Bolomatova assuming the role of the union's executive director, sources in the grain market told Interfax.

Sergeyev will replace Eduard Zernin, who has been the union's board chairman since its inception in 2019.

Zernin will remain a member of the union's board, the sources said. "However, the corporate procedures for changing leadership have not yet begun, and they could take more than a month," one of the sources said.

Zernin confirmed that he will step down as chairman of the board next year. Firstly, the five-year term which he was elected for is coming to an end. "Also, I want to adjust the balance of my time in favor of my own business," he said. "Next year will be both challenging and full of opportunities. I wouldn't want to miss out on them," he said.

Zernin is the beneficiary of Bio-Ton corporation, which ranks among the top ten crop production companies in Russia and is the largest in the Volga region. Its assets are located in the Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk, Penza and Volgograd regions as well as in Stavropol Territory. Its land bank exceeds 550,000 hectares.

As reported, Bio-Ton may purchase the Louis Dreyfus-owned company RusElCo, which operates several grain elevators. At the end of November, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an order permitting the acquisition of 100% of Russian Elevator Company LLC (RusElCo), owned by Ruselco plc. The potential buyer or buyers were not named in the document.