Agrocomplex Labinsky Acquired By VTB Bank For Strategic Investment

VTB, Russia’s second-biggest lender, has acquired Agrocomplex Labinsky, which handles the assets of the Pokrovsky agroholding. The bank plans to make the asset more attractive and sell it for a profit in the near future, according to the group.

Until 2023, Pokrovsky was mainly owned by Andrei Korovayko, the former inspector of the Russian presidential representative’s office to the Southern Federal District, and his fellow investor Arkady Chebanov.

Agrocomplex Labinsky Was Put In Charge Of Pokrovsky’s Assets

In October last year, the Labinsk City Court agreed with the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office’s decision to hand over the assets of Pokrovsky to the Russian Federal Property Agency (Rosimushchestvo). This was due to corruption claims against Chebanov and Korovayko. The court noted that Korovayko had been using his government position to take over other people’s businesses and start his own, with help from judges at the Rostov Region Arbitration Court.

After the nationalization, Agrocomplex Labinsky was put in charge of managing the holding’s assets. In December last year, the company appointed Alexei Skorobogatov as its General Director.  Skorobogatov has more than a decade of expertise in the agricultural industry and worked at Cherkizovo and Demetra-Holding.

On December 19, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Megatek secured ownership of Agrocomplex Labinsky LLC, taking over from Rosimushchestvo. BF Direct Investments, founded in 2018, holds a 99% stake in Megatek. According to the 2020 financial reports of BF Direct Investments, 99% of the firm was in the hands of Business-Finance, which was controlled by VTB Bank at the time.

VTB noted that the group has confirmed the purchase of Agrocomplex Labinsky. It added that the team sees this as an investment to make the asset more appealing by improving efficiency, optimizing unnecessary activities, and keeping the knowledge built in the agricultural sector.

Agrocomplex Labinsky Achieved Strong Results In 2024

Pokrovsky is a major agricultural holding with over 35 companies across five areas in the Southern Federal District. It focuses on growing crops, rearing dairy and beef cattle, producing sugar, and processing meat. The company noted in a press release that the transfer of ownership for Agrocomplex Labinsky won’t change the company’s overall plan.

Skorobogatov revealed the overall updating of the holding’s businesses, more machines and new equipment, clear management and financial reporting, and better labor productivity are still the firm’s top priorities.

Agrocomplex Labinsky had good results in 2024. The firm noted that the production of quality crops like wheat, barley, sugar beet, soybeans, sunflowers, and corn rose, with winter barley growing by 29% and winter wheat by 9%. For the first time, Daily milk production hit 350 tonnes and the milk yield per cow grew by an average of 8%, with some companies seeing increases between 4% and 12%. The Kurganinsky Sugar Refinery handled 22% more beets in 2024 and yielded 25% more sugar.