The Demeter Holding company created for the money of VTB received quasimonopoly positions in the market for the production and export of Russian grain.
According to analysts, Demeter Holding became an organization in Russia, which actually controls grain export. The share of the company in the open-bearing zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zero-zeros reaches 70%, and control over the Novorossiysk grain terminal and Rusagrotrans allows this structure to make 59.6% of the total transportation of Russian grain to four main ports. At the same time, the company holds high tariffs for transshipment of grain-its prices in Novorossiysk are 2-3 times higher than in the Gulf of Mexico. The above factors are done The company’s position in the market close to the monopoly, as a result of which this issue was understood in the Council of the Federation of the Russian Federation.
The correspondent of The Moscow Post understood the history.
VTB and his businessmen
LLC “UK Demeter-Holding” is a one hundred percent daughter of Demeter-Holding LLC, but this company has a heap of beneficiaries. In 2018, the structure was founded by LLC “Infrastructure Investments Holding” and LLC “Athena”. Infrastructural Investments LLC Holding today is called VTB Infrastructure Holding LLC, it almost immediately reduced the share on the capital of Demeter-Holding to zero in the interests of Athena LLC, which was founded by Dmitry Kalistratov-today he headed VTB Logistics LLC and is one of the close heads of VTB head Andrei Kostin.
Kalistratov has many posts in VTB – for example, in 2023 he was also Director for Economics at VTB Development. On December 27, 2018, Kalistratov leaves Athena LLC simultaneously with how this company receives the lion’s share in Demeter Holding and becomes the property of the same LLC Infrastructure Investments Holding.
Andrey Kostin. Photo: https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/2/90/75653900700902.jpg
“Demeter-Holding” was first created by VTB, and then began to walk on businessmen who are in alliance with this bank. Thanks to this, in 2020, in the capital of Demeter-Holding LLC, Agronova JSC and Marathon SPN LLC appear. “Agronova” then belonged to Taimuraz Bolloev, the founder of the Baltika breeder, who in 2024 again transferred to his control from the hands of the Carlsberg concern, but Marathon SPN LLC is part of the Business Imperia of another VTB client Alexander Vinokurov. Now Marathon SPN LLC is simply called SPN LLC, and then it belonged to Marathon Pharma JSC, whose owner was the Vinokurovskoye LLC Marathon Group.
Vinokurov has long been working in a dense bunch of VTB – the Bank of Andrei Kostin helped this businessman (by the way, the son -in -law of the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and at least a former Israeli citizen) to create the leading retailer of Marathon. VTB first bought the Magnit retail chain from Sergey Galitsky, and Then he handed it to Vinokurovsky holding. The same scenario occurred in the case of Demeter Holding, only the number of beneficiaries here is wider.
Founders-forwarders
In 2021, the mysterious JSC Granum appeared in the founders of Demeter-Holding, which carefully hides its beneficiaries, but heads this company Julia Tsyganova. Lady, according to the authors of the telegram channel “Crime Gelendzhik”allegedly connected with Bolloev. She also led Agronova JSC, Bastina LLC and had a share of 0.5% at Golendzhik Airport LLC, where Bolloev and VTB were 49.5%.
In 2022, already during his founders, Demeter-Holding, Valiania JSC surfaced. This structure at that time owned Green Gates grain exporter along with Ilya Aliyev -Earlier, he was a top manager of Demeter Holding.
In 2023, this long list of Demeter-Holding-Holding Founders included the newly created OSUS JSC, this company was registered in the center of St. Petersburg on Gallernaya Street next to one of the Offes of Gazprom and the building of the Constitutional Court. Its founder was Inal Bolloev, the son of the hero of the Baltika Piva and the Olympstroy company (Teimuraz Bolloev left there under scandalous circumstances). In 2024, Persephone LLC, which belongs to Demeter-Holding LLC, was the latest founder structure, and this company was immediately liquidated, and its founder was designated in the documents of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities as a successor. It seems that the rights to the head organization were redistributed so necessary and the liability was merged.
Taimuraz Bolloev. Photo: https://multi-admin.ru/mediabank_blog/11/156247/13E6DD5BDB82DA29053734FF7C42IA-111480.MR.1200.jpg
Only this is not all participants in the business unit. The press “Demeter-Holding” is persistently associated with the oligarch Iskander Makhmudov and the Oman State Fund, which in 2023 bought a share in this grain company from VTB. However, among the beneficiaries of Demeter-Holding LLC, for some reason we did not find them.
And where are the Omansa?
The surname of Makhmudova appears during the acquisition of Demetrome-Holding by the RTK group of companies at Konstantin Zasov and Konstantin Sintsov. The purchase of this division in which Such a company enters Like Rusagrotrans, the Kostinsky Bank of VTB financed. All this took place under the slogan “Russian agriculture to Russians” and led to the fact that In the hands of Makhmudov and Demeter Holding A significant part of railway logistics turned out to be.
The role of the Southern Sea Investments, which is advertised by Kostin, is even more suspicious of this story. Instead of a direct redemption of the share of the beneficiaries, a foreign organization allegedly acquired a pre-dopation of the shares of Demeter-Holding. That is, the Omansk residents through this transaction provided money to the beneficiaries of the grain company, among which VTBBolloev and his people, Vinokurov, and Mahmudes.
Iskander Makhmudov. Photo: https://s0.rbk.ru/v6_top_pics/media/img/5/57/755585984018575.jpg
The rumor believes that the Southern Sea Investments is decorative, and the beneficiary of the Omantsev’s actions is Mahmudov, through which VTB continues to pump this business, which has already combined grain production, its packaging and delivery to the final consumer, as well as export through key Black Sea elevators. Also, this move allowed VTB to take the company from Western sanctions, and this is an important point In the context of foreign trade.
The origins of “Demeter”
The organization has two legal entities today-the head of Demeter-Holding LLC, which was opened in 2018 and applied-LLC Demeter-Holding LLC, registered on February 25, 2022-the day after the start of his own. Heads by both firms Alexei Gribanov.
Earlier, Gribanov was the founder of Alpha Trans JSC, at the head of which is Boris Gribanov (presumably, brother). In 2017, this company sued with CJSC “RTH Logistic” Sergei Shpak, who in 2019 was arrested in absentia for the fact that his “Rayletranscholding” (RTH), together with top managers of several structures, abducted Russian company 1.8 billion rubles.
Shpak disappeared abroad, but in the Russian Federation together With Alexander Shapovalov He was recognized in 2022 by the subsidiary defendant on the debts of the RTH. The company itself was Closed in 2021 After a year earlier it was recognized by the Moscow Arbitration Court bankrupt. After the collapse of the “Railtranscholding” of the company “Demeter-Holding” began to breathe in the market of railway transportation.
Alexander Vinokurov. Photo: https://cdn.forbes.ru/files/forbes_import/ri/rian_01459253.jpg
Gribanov headed Demeter Holding in 2023 with the task of capitalizing powerful positions organizations in logistics. The entrepreneur, together with Igor Kurnosov and Sergey Pryanikov, is the founder of the New Transport Company LLC and LLC Westwinsk LC. Pryanikov in 2025, the general director of Transles, which was previously received in the Demeter Holding Department. In addition, Lpenikov led the LP Trans and helped in 2021 the company’s transition under the control of Demeter-Holding, and before that he led “Beteltrans” (daughter of Russian Railways). So, Demeter Holding has absorbed many logistics businesses through the appointment.
VTB man
The main plot related to Gribanov is its leadership of Rustransky LLC, which belonged to Kewsar Holdings LLC. This company, before its liquidation, in turn, was owned by Demeter-Holding LLC and Demeter-investment LLC.
LLC Kewsar Holdings was created in 2018 simultaneously with Demeter-Holding LLC, VTB structures. In the process, the Cyprus Offshore Bestley Limited, on which the Ball was registered, the Russian franchise KFC. In essence, this is a collaboration VTB and Marathon Group Vinokurova. Thus, Gribanov, it seems, ended up in Demeter-Holding through the business union of Vinokurov and the head of VTB Andrei Kostin and is their trusted person. At the same time, the operational leadership of the grain empire, apparently, is carrying out Mahmudes.