8 Nov 2022 09:32

Demetra Holding consolidates marketplace for agribusiness, PhosAgro CEO's firm exits project

MOSCOW. Nov 8 (Interfax) - GI Invest, a venture capital company owned by former PhosAgro CEO Andrei Guryev, is no longer a shareholder of DD Invest LLC, which is implementing the Pole.rf project, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities showed.

Demetra Holding, which previously owned this marketplace equally with GI Invest, is now the sole owner of DD Invest through Selskokhozyaistvennaya TsES LLC. The project was launched in July 2021.

The change in shareholder structure has not affected the marketplace's operations, Demetra Holding told Interfax. "All services for customers are being provided in full, the assortment of goods remains the same. Pole.rf is developing as an independent agricultural marketplace. Plans include further developing the platform and expanding the line of products and services in line with the needs of the market," the company said.

The marketplace's consolidation within Demetra Holding is a logical step, the company said, noting that it "already owns the digital logistics platform Smartseeds, with the help of which one can organize the complete cycle of truck haulage of agricultural freight."

"Pole.rf and Smartseeds are interconnected digital solutions for agricultural producers," with the former offering the whole range of agricultural products, financial products, various agricultural services and industry analytics, and the logistics platform making it possible to transport harvested grain," Demetra Holding said, adding that these solutions "are the foundation for the further development of Demetra Digital's digital ecosystem, which will cover all agricultural producers' needs for goods and services."

Guryev could not be reached for comment. An industry source told Interfax that the decision to exit Pole.rf, in the creation of which Guryev was a driving force, might be intended to shield the marketplace from U.S. sanctions. Guryev and GI Invest were included in the Treasury Department's Specially Designated Nationals List in August.

Pole.rf is currently the only end-to-end transactional marketplace in Russia where in a single window farmers can market their harvest, purchase any type of agricultural product (seeds, fertilizer, crop protection agents, machinery and spare parts), get financing for all needs and access industry analytics and other agricultural services. All interactions between the farmer and the partner take place completely online.