Russian authorities nationalise its largest grain exporter

The Russian Federation government has nationalised the country's largest grain exporter, Rodnye Polya LLC, and 100% of the company's shares have been taken over by the state-owned Rosimushchestvo.

This decision was taken by the Rostov Region Arbitration Court following an appeal by the Prosecutor General's Office. According to the Prosecutor's Office, Piotr Chodykin, who previously owned „Rodnye polya LLC“, is a citizen of the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis (an island in the Caribbean Sea) and a resident of the United Arab Emirates. He is alleged to be a foreign investor with control over a strategic enterprise and to have operated without the appropriate authorization from the Russian government.

Mr Khodykin‘has been trying to evade sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation since 2023, and has therefore attempted to conceal the company's ownership of the aggressor country through a series of transactions. This is believed to have angered the Kremlin, which nationalised „Rodnye Polya LLC“.

In addition to a fleet of 11 ships, „Rodnye Polya LLC“ owned a cargo terminal and a railway train. The holding's capitalisation exceeded EUR 58 billion. Russian rubles (about €572 million).