Dutch firm Lamb Weston Meijer exits Russian French fries business

MOSCOW. Sept 15 (Interfax) - Dutch company Lamb Weston Meijer (LWM) has exited its Russian frozen French fries business.

LWM's 74.9% stake in LWM Rus LLC was transferred to the Russian company itself on September 13, data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities showed.

Vladimir Tsyganov retains a 25.1% stake in LWM Rus, which was previously owned by LWM and Tsyganov.

LWM and Belaya Dacha Trading opened the French fries plant in Lipetsk Region in April 2018. The plant, in which the companies invested 8.7 billion rubles, has capacity to process 200,000 tonnes of potatoes per year.

At the beginning of 2021, Belaya Dacha Trading sold its 25.1% stake in LWM Rus to Tsyganov, a long-time partner of Belaya Dacha Group founder Viktor Semyonov.

LWM Rus closed 2021 with net profit up to 1.469 billion rubles from 816.7 million rubles a year earlier, on revenue up to 8.218 billion rubles from 5.129 billion rubles.

LWM Rus owns LWM Farming in Tambor Region, which supplies the plant with potatoes.