Bunge seeking buyer for Russian business - sources

MOSCOW. June 28 (Interfax) - U.S.-based company Bunge is seeking to reduce its presence in Russia by selling Bunge CIS, which, among other things, owns one of the largest oil extraction plants in Russia, sources in the farming market told Interfax.

"There is information about the sale being prepared, the asset is interesting, one of the best plants on the market," he said.

According to another source who also heard about the company's plans, there could be many bidders for the plant "given its strong brands."

Bunge commissioned an oil extraction plant in the Voronezh Region in 2008. The plant is designed to process 540,000 tonnes of feedstock and produce more than 200 million bottles of sunflower oil a year. The portfolio of Bunge CIS LLC includes Oleina, Ideal, Maslenitsa and other brands.

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Bunge CIS changed its owner on June 27. Now it is owned by Integrated Vegetable Oils and Proteins Holdings Ltd (Bermuda). Previously, the main owner of the company was Bunge SA.

The company did not promptly respond to Interfax's inquiry about the change in ownership, promising to consider it.

Bunge, one of the leading players in the global food market, established a division in Russia in 2004. In 2021, the revenue of Bunge CIS increased almost 1.6-fold to 30 billion rubles from 19.1 billion rubles in 2020, while profit stood at 1.9 billion rubles compared to 1.3 billion rubles a year earlier.