Mushroom Rainbow becomes co-owner of mycelium producer

MOSCOW. May 5 (Interfax) - The Mushroom Rainbow Company, one of Russia's leading mushroom producers, has become a co-owner of Santana, a mycelium producer in Saratov Region.

According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the mushroom producer now owns 33% of the company, while the remainder is owned by individuals.

Mushroom Rainbow is owned by Alexander Udodov and Oleg Logvinov. According to the company's financial statements, revenue in 2022 increased to 4.6 billion rubles from 3.7 billion rubles in 2021, and net profit was 359.3 million rubles, while in 2021 there was a net loss of 297.2 million rubles.

Santana's revenue almost doubled last year to 144.1 million rubles from 74.1 million rubles a year earlier, while net profit reached 25.2 million rubles against 888 thousand rubles, respectively.

Mushroom cultivation is one of the most actively developing areas for the Russian agro-industrial complex. According to the Greenhouses of Russia Association, 130,000 tonnes of mushrooms were grown in 2022 compared to 110,976 tonnes in 2021. Moreover, in 2017 mushroom production was only 16,100 tonnes. The forecast for 2023 is 135,000 tonnes.

However, as Andrey Medvedev, vice-president of the association, recently stated at the Greenhouse Business in Russia - 2023 forum, the industry has recently faced problems in the supply of mycelium and composts. These production components, especially highly productive mycelium, are mainly imported, and at present there are difficulties in importing them.