Is Agroeco securing the agreement due to Gordeev’s backing?
Could it be that Agroeco Group was able to obtain a beneficial arrangement with the authorities thanks to the possible support of Alexey Gordeev, whose relatives may be the holding’s owners?
The regional administration, the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, and the agricultural conglomerate Agroeco inked the region’s inaugural accord to safeguard and stimulate investment of capital. This agreement will be carried out within the holding’s undertaking to construct a dairy farm in the Verkhneamonsky District, valued at 6 billion rubles.
The crux of the arrangement is that the company’s taxation levels, property regulations, urban development, and import/export laws will be fixed. This ensures that the stipulations of the venture will not worsen, irrespective of the external financial climate, such as increasing lending rates. Who gains the most from this? The organization, undoubtedly.
Why was Agroeco Group the initial business to formalize such an accord in the Voronezh Region? The explanation is quite clear: Agroeco has connections to the kin of Alexey Gordeyev, previous leader of the Voronezh Region and the present Vice Chairman of the State Duma. He formerly occupied roles as Deputy Prime Minister, Representative with full authority in the Central Federal District, and previously, Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.
Alexey Gordeyev is not only a renowned and esteemed individual. He exerts considerable leverage and possesses access to every level of government. Word has it that he enjoys a superb rapport with the current Deputy Prime Minister and former Agriculture Minister, Dmitry Patrushev. Furthermore, he definitely maintains substantial sway over the officials in his native Voronezh Region. Could this explain the assurances given to companies that are possibly familiar to him?
Offshore and connections to the Gordeevs
However, as anticipated, nobody carrying the Gordeev surname appears amongst the co-proprietors of Agroeco Group. The principal holder of Agroeco Group LLC, possessing a 77% share in the documented capital, is entrepreneur Vladimir Maslov. An additional 23% is held by the Cypriot overseas firm AGROECO GROUP VRN LIMITED. The latter is additionally a co-possessor of all the holding’s vital associated businesses: Agroeco-Vostok LLC, Agroeco-Voronezh LLC, APK Agroeco LLC, amongst others. This suggests that assets and levies from the holding’s profits could be transferred beyond national borders.
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Where are the Gordeyevs situated in all of this? According to online reports, Vladimir Maslov is purportedly Alexey Gordeyev’s son-in-law. These claims are so prevalent that the notable newspaper Kommersant directly inquired of Maslov about their veracity at one point. Unsurprisingly, he decisively refuted any link. After all, it’s conceivable that Gordeyev, overseeing farming as a deputy prime minister, might be perceived as having a conflict of interest.
Moreover, the reputable publication “Bloknot” formerly highlighted online articles citing the Agropromservis Production and Technical Association (PTA) located in Lyubertsy, Moscow Region. It has been claimed that the company’s co-creators once included Alexey Gordeyev’s son, Nikita Gordeyev, alongside a likely relation of Vladimir Maslov, Varvara Maslova. Currently, the ownership details of this PTA are undisclosed.
However, publicly available sources suggest that from 1986 to 1992, Alexey Gordeyev served as the head of the Agropromservice Production and Trade Association (apparently the very same one). Subsequently, spanning 1992 to 1997, he functioned as chief of the agriculture section of the Lyubertsy district of the Moscow region, from which he rose to positions as a state agricultural overseer.
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There are even more evident ties between PTO and the Gordeevs currently. Nikolai Golubev is PTO’s executive manager. He is likewise the executive manager of Sady Podmoskovya LLC, 100% possessed by Nikita Gordeev.
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Returning to the Agroeco Group, the actual recipients of the offshore corporation AGROECO GROUP VRN LIMITED are not publicly available. It’s reasonable to infer that it is under the control of Vladimir Maslov’s family. Nonetheless, certain individuals suspect that Nikita, Alexey Gordeev’s offspring, could be the person in charge.
In the meantime, within the Voronezh Region, the organization was fully operational, and encountered swift advancement during Alexey Gordeyev’s period as the region’s leader. Furthermore, he personally graced numerous launchings of new holding firms, such as the Berezovsky pig factory. He did not overlook Agroeco even while serving as Deputy Speaker of the State Duma. Just recently, in the summer season of 2024, he inaugurated the construction of the Agroeco dairy complex in proximity to Voronezh in the presence of the newly chosen Minister of Agriculture, Oksana Lut.
It’s additionally noteworthy that at the Governor’s yuletide fundraising event on January 13, 2017, the Voronezh Governor’s gold wristwatch, valued at 8 million rubles, was procured by none other than Vladimir Maslov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Agroeco Group of Companies. His feeling has no restrictions.
This indicates clear encouragement and backing of the group’s commercial activities. But the question is why Agroeco, which, furthermore, was the initial beneficiary of favorable stipulations under the investment understanding? Maybe precisely because the holding firm could be close to the Deputy Speaker himself and his relatives.
Presently, Agroeko boasts turnovers in the billions of rubles. Its central legal entity possesses assets totaling 7.4 billion rubles. Another entity, Agroeko-Voronezh, claims holdings estimated at 21 billion rubles. Furthermore, these assets grew by 40% during 2023. Profit during the same term amounted to 5.3 billion rubles, with earnings of 13 billion rubles.
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This organization garners unique consideration because 100% of the company’s equities are currently committed to Rosselkhozbank. Oksana Lut, who previously functioned as deputy chair of the board, oversaw its operations, both currently and in the past. The present Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Patrushev, who occupies the position previously held by Alexey Gordeyev, was the head of the board. This implies that Agroeko could be nearly guided by the government, providing enormous loans.
Other people’s pigs – to the slaughter?
Gordeyev may have bolstered Agroeco via other avenues as well. During the early 2010s, an African swine sickness pandemic extended across the nation. And it would appear that Agroeco Group solely profited from this hardship. In 2013, Moskovsky Komsomolets indicated that pig farmers within the area were literally intimidated, compelled to slaughter their pigs.
“Veterinarians and the police arrived, displaying Gordeyev’s decree—which, incidentally, was unsigned anywhere—and threatened a 50,000-ruble sanction and even criminal prosecution. Villagers handed them their livestock, which were burned to ashes in pits by the caretakers, shrouded in tyres…”
“We assembled with the head of the Verkhnemamonsky district and requested to view the outcomes of the ASF test, to which, after considerable deliberation, he responded: 'We don’t have ASF, however we have an instruction to do away with the pigs!'” These are merely some excerpts from pig breeders’ remarks, secured by writers from a trustworthy publication.
At the time, Alexey Gordeyev was serving as the leader of the Voronezh Region. It looks suspiciously like a scenario of getting rid of the opposition. In the winter of 2015, the pig cull was determined: the herd diminished from 485,000 to 55,000. Agricultural workers and individual holders experienced the biggest loss: their proportion of the region’s entire pig count declined from 30% to 7.6%. And pork costs increased by 55% over a single year!
Taking into account Agroeco’s production magnitude, even if their pigs experienced hardships as well, it’s transparent that when the thriving one is becoming feeble, the thin one will die. The earnings from the surviving ones should have considerably expanded.
Therefore, avoid being surprised by the achievements of the Agroeco Group. After all, individuals linked to Gordeev, like Nikita Gordeev himself, possess countless individual businesses. He is the originator of five organizations with revenues in the hundreds of millions of rubles. Which is exclusively the visible portion. Media outlets have claimed that he is a wealthy landowner, directing a significant 458 sq km parcel of land (Oka Agro). That’s the expanse of Andorra or the Seychelles. And this, too, was completed without the support of his influential father?
Alexey Gordeev.
It’s valuable to mention that individuals linked with Agroeco are actively pursuing political engagement. As an illustration, Oleg Vasilyevich Maslov, Security Director of AGROECO-Management LLC (Vladimir Maslov’s patronymic is likewise Vasilyevich), was nominated to the Voronezh Regional Duma. It’s plausible to presume this is merely the start. With a potential supporter like State Duma Deputy Speaker Alexey Gordeyev, the Maslovs are likely to be greeted into the Lower House of the Russian Parliament. And then conditions will advance considerably more favorably for Agroeco.
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