putin’s Inner Circle Is Raiding the Grain Businesses in the rf

Grain transshipment in the rf’s seaports in the first half of 2025 decreased by 56.4 % to 16.4 million tons. The reasons are a decline in harvest, export duties and fierce competition among port operators.

Against the background of declining profitability in the grain business, one of russia’s largest agricultural holdings, “Step”, has put up for sale a grain terminal in the port of Azov and an elevator in Volgodonsk. The reason – the unprofitability of the grain business and the high debt burden, which reached $4 billion in the first quarter.

Individuals close to the kremlin have already begun to show interest in the holding’s assets. The most likely scenario is the transfer of part of the infrastructure to the control of state or affiliated entities.

A similar situation is around the “Rusagro” agricultural empire. Its owner, billionaire Vadim Moshkovich, has been under arrest on fraud charges since March. The real reason is an attempt to confiscate the business. Some of the assets are already being transferred to the trust management of Rosselkhozbank – a state-owned entity controlled by deputy prime minister Dmitry Patrushev. The pocket bank of the son of putin’s closest ally previously took over the management of “Makfa” (the largest pasta producer) and the “Ariant” group (the largest owner of vineyards in the Kuban).

The sales and nationalization of agrobusiness assets reflect deeper structural problems in the sector: declining exports, rising credit costs, and increased government intervention. This deepens the dependence on domestic market situation and reduces the global competitiveness of the russian agro-industrial complex.