The acquisition of the Astrol company will allow Demeter Holding to connect the Caspian and Black Sea and no longer depend on anyone in grain export.
The company “Demeter-Holding” acquired 25% at the Astrol Shipping Company LLC, which is engaged in grain transportation. So, billionaire Iskander Makhmudov strengthens its position in the Russian agricultural complex.
The correspondent of The Moscow Post understood the history.
The vessels are the head of everything
The Astrol company was created under the project of dry loads of the RSD59 River More class, which was developed in St. Petersburg specifically under the Volga-Don Canal. The vessels are designed to deliver goods to the Black Sea with their further export transshipment.
The contract for the supply of ships was concluded in 2017, and they were built from 2019 to 2021 and were transferred to the “Astral” to leasing. The state transport leasing company (GTLK) was financed by the project, which was led by Mikhail Poluboyarinov during the signing of the contract with Astrol. Today this person works in the Rostec circuit.
Iskander Makhmudov. Photo: https://iy.kommersant.ru/issues.photo/daily/2013/204/kmo_096384_00048_2_t218.jpg
Thus, Demeter Holding received a ready-made economic tool that will further strengthen the position of the structure in the Russian agricultural market. The sellers in the Astrola sale transaction were Evgeny Konkov, Nikolai Kiknadze, Alexander Frolov and Dmitry Budarin. Kiknadze is also listed as the owner of Glonass-Vostok LLC, from which the main customer is the one hundred percent daughter of VTB VTB Liding JSC.
VTB in the case
“Demeter-Holding” was officially funded by VTB, and the head of the bank Andrei Kostin considered this project a priority. The financier even spoke out in the spirit that the Russian Federation should control its agriculture. Only in the summer of 2023 did VTB sell a share in the Makhmudov agricultural company in the size of a 45% Oman State Fund Southern Sea Investment LLC. Apparently, Kostin’s bank did not go far from the business, and the Omansk residents were involved so that Demeter Holding did not experience serious problems with grain export due to anti-Russian sanctions.
The presence in the story of the Astrille of Kiknadze hints that this marine carrier could initially be created under Demeter Holding. Such projects require a lot of money, which the business does not have, so banks provide it to certain conditions. Kostin is not directly related to GTLK, but could contribute to the project.
The mysterious sharaburak
“Demeter-Holding” entered the capital of “Astrola” not one, but together with LLC “Arion-Holdings”. The organization was created in June 2022 after the start of its own and has revenue of 71 million rubles for 2023. The owners of the Arion-Holdings are hidden, however, the company is led by the company of mysterious entrepreneur Vladimir Sharaburak.
In the zero years, a person with such a name and surname was a member of the board and the director of supply Irkutskenergo OJSC. In addition, Sharaburak was the general director of Eurosibenergo-Engineering LLC, which is owned by En+Oligarch Oleg Deripaska. However, first of all, it is important that at the end of 2024 two new structures were registered on Sharaburak and Arion-Holding.
Aryon-Holding LLC and Sharaburak as a minority shareholder now own LLC MT and LLC ZT, which are distributed in the port of Olya Astrakhan region. Under the first abbreviation, an oil lump terminal is hidden, and under the second – a grain terminal. It is easy to understand that these business operations are made under the RSD59 dry cargo loads, which carries from the Caspian Sea, where the port of Olya is located, in the Black Sea, where the Demeter-Holding export capacities are located. So, the trade and economic chain closes.
Mediator Shishkin
According to the authors of the telegram channel Infranews Allegedly, LLC MT and LLC ZT were withdrawn from the composition of the Olya Sea Port of Olya. In December 2024, changes also occurred in this company, its chief beneficiary became Alexander Shishkin.
Shishkin at the turn of the tenth and zero was a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation and a senator from the Khabarovsk Territory, he was also the beneficiary of Amurmetall and the head of the Amur hockey club. In addition to JSC “Sea Trade port of Olya” Shishkin currently owns 1% of the distributor “Karopatkat”. Jamaldin Pashayev, who bought this asset from the state from JSC “Sea Trade Port Olya” Shishkin, lost to Shishkin. Shishkin immediately allocated two LLCs from the company and transferred them to Arion-Holdings.
Sergey Shishkarev. Photo: https://www.sports.ru/dynamic_images/news/11/527/823/0/share/e4ab0a_no_logo_no_text.jpg
Sharaburak and Shishkin in this story are hardly independent figures. They can represent the interests of other players, the same Deripaska, but it seems that their actions are carried out in the interests of Demeter Holding, which is somehow VTB.
Makhmudov’s business goes forward
Otherwise, Demeter Holding continues to expand the business. Makhmudova de facto creates a monopoly that produces, processes, transports and sells Russian agricultural products for export. The main direction here is grain, and this is logical – the volume of foreign exchange earnings in this area increases every year.
The population in the world is growing and the demand for grain, like a basic product, also goes up. All this guarantees Demeter Holding and its investors (previously officially played this role by VTB) financial return. The calculation is simple, but win -win.
At the same time, Makhmudov develops his old business. Before the appearance of Demeter Holding, the main asset of the oligarch (along with Transmashholding) was the UMMC concern. At the end of the summer, I bought the Demeter-Holding of the Zheleznodorozhniye Carrier “Jade” on behalf of the Makhmuda direction, whose cement hoppers for agro-industrial business are not suitable. But they correspond to the profile other assets of Makhmudov.
Andrey Kostin. Photo: https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/3/93/755873009079933.jpeg
This transaction took place against the background of the acquisition of the Demetrra-Holding GC RTK, which includes Rusagrotrans, Konstantin Zasov and Konstantin Sintsov. Financial support under these operations was provided by Makhmudov by VTB.
Makhmudov also received support for Don Agro’s redemption, AFG National and many other companies and created with partner Ivan Yuzefovich Agricultural holding “Spaces”. In the fall, there was even information about the combination of assets of Makhmudov and Yuzefovich, although it was obvious before that their business was one.
Business for VTB money
Among the Makhmudov’s partners, in addition to VTB, such structures as the “Rosatom” and the Case of the Case of Sergei Shishkarev, with whom he is probably going to create a transport and logical monster, which will determine the rules in the railway transportation market in RF.
An important fact: Shishkarev has dense ties with the Novorossiysk port, the dispatcher of which was his father. It is from the Krasnodar ports that Demeter-Holding conducts its grain export and it is here that RSD59 dry-loaded Caspians come here, which, under the guise of Astrola, now owns Mahmudes. At the same time, Makhmudova and Shishkarev unite not common business interests, but a dense binding to VTB.
The auction for the redemption of “Transcontainer” in 2019 of the Civil Code of the case won within the walls of the bank VTB. Prior to this, Kostin Bank in 2018 bought 24.84% of this company from FESCO, when convicted brothers still controlled this structure Magomedovs. VTB helped to create a megacombanced not only Makhmudov, but also Shishkarev, and their interests came together in logistics. Thanks to VTB and Kostin, these oligarchs will regulate tariffs, and this is even more serious than just export of grain abroad, because literally everything depends on this.