Miratorg, insatiable with state investments, went to covert blackmail
Miratorg doubted the profitability of the business: is everything so bad with the Linnikov brothers?
In terms of investments, the brothers Alexander and Viktor Linnik consider themselves great enthusiasts. Over the past decade, businessmen have invested 350 billion rubles in agricultural projects. At the XIII Gaidar Forum on January 13, the president of the holding, V. Linnik, said that the investments were successfully paying off. However, for the first time the company found itself in a situation where it is unprofitable to invest in poultry, pig and cattle breeding. “We do not see the payback of projects,” he summed up. Does this mean that Miratorg is in a crisis?
“Miratorg” and its “jammed” secrets
The agricultural holding was founded in 1995. Miratorg is the largest producer of meat products on the Russian market. Today, the holding’s subsidiaries are registered in Cyprus. Its owners are businessmen brothers Victor and Alexander Linnik. The first holds the position of President, the second presides over the Board of Directors.
Most of Miratorg’s production is concentrated in two regions – Bryansk and Belgorod. In 2019, not without scandal and resentment, the construction of complexes for breeding and keeping pigs in the neighboring Kursk region started.
It would seem that great prospects allow the brothers to conduct an honest and transparent business without unnecessary risks. However, their activities raise questions.
Journalistic investigations show that the work of businessmen is reduced to unauthorized plowing of land contaminated with dangerous radioactive substances. It is known that the region where Miratorg operates suffered during the Chernobyl disaster. From the point of view of a favorable radiation background, there are not so many “clean” areas that could be used for their intended purpose. Linniki, apparently, believe that money does not smell. In this case, it is understandable why the brothers cultivate contaminated areas. Having increased its presence in the designated areas, Miratorg receives high subsidized support from the state.
For many years now, the holding has been expanding on the lands that most of the locals left after the Chernobyl accident. A couple of years ago, the company encroached on the territory that was in the department of the Natural Biosphere Reserve. Alekhine (Streletskaya steppe region). It was difficult for the director of protected areas, Nikolai Maleshin, to stop the Napoleonic plans of Miratorg. Farmers had to be on duty in their fields day and night in order to prevent the invasion of the “enemy” equipment of the monopolist.
At one time, an influential holding behaved in a barbaric way in the Oryol region. There, its representatives did not hesitate to go all out. Events unfolded around the memorial at the Krivtsov Heights. One of the most important monuments of the Great Patriotic War was covered with barbed wire. Miratorg wanted to see a pasture for cattle on the site of the remains of Russian fighters.
What now
The surname of the owners of Miratorg coincides with the maiden name of the wife of Dmitry Medvedev, who before marriage was listed in the documents as Svetlana Linnik. Alexander and Viktor do not confirm the kinship factor, perhaps fearing new explanations for the willfulness and success of Miratorg. But that’s not the point. Dmitry Medvedev, while still in the post of prime minister, inspected the fields intended for breeding elite breeds of cows as part of a working visit, and immediately the brothers received $ 800 million as an investment contribution from VEB. But this, as it turned out, was not enough.
We quote the words of Viktor Linnik:
“For all of us, the removal of restrictions (on meat imports – ed.) and the zeroing of the import rate for 200,000 tons of imported beef were a surprise. The same is true for pig farming. The decision has been made, we will live by the rules that the state has chosen. But we don’t understand it.
Hidden ultimatum
On the one hand, everything is calm in Miratorg, and the management speaks of a stable return on deposits. But, as you know, there is no such thing as too much money.