Vegetable oil producer Blago Group acquires DonMasloProdukt

MOSCOW. Oct 24 (Interfax) - Blago Group, one of Russia's largest vegetable oil producers, has acquired 100% of JSC DonMasloProdukt, a sunflower oil plant in Rostov Region, the group reported in a press release.

The transaction received preliminary approval from Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service.

Blago Group leased DonMasloProdukt's production facilities in September 2022 and they are now fully integrated into the group's ecosystem, including purchases of feedstock and sales of finished product, the group said.

The plant, which has capacity to process 180,000 tonnes of sunflower seeds per year, processed 139,000 tonnes in the 2022/2023 agricultural year and produced 57,500 tonnes of sunflower oil. Its products were primarily exported, to Turkey and China.

The location of the plant makes it possible to efficiently supply it with feedstock, as Rostov Region is one of Russia's leading sunflower seed producers, as well as export its products through ports in the Azov-Black Sea basin, group CEO Dmitry Fosman was cited as saying in the press release.

Blago Group, founded in 1993, is a vertically integrated company that produces vegetable oil at seven plants. Its products are carried by all national and 90 of the largest local retail chains in Russia, and exported to more than 20 countries. The group's sales topped 51 billion rubles in 2022.