FT finds out who Danone wants to sell its Russian business to

Danone wants to sell its Russian business to Vamin Tatarstan, which is headed by 29-year-old Mingazov, the FT has learned. He was appointed to the board of directors of the Danone subsidiary after Kadyrov's nephew took over the helm

French Danone, whose Russian assets have been transferred to the temporary management of the Federal Property Management Agency, plans to sell its Russian business to the dairy company Vamin Tatarstan. This was reported by the Financial Times (FT), citing documents and informed sources.

As the newspaper notes, Vamin belongs to 29-year-old Mintimer Mingazov, who was appointed to the board of directors of Life & Nutrition (the renamed subsidiary of Danone in RUSSIA) this summer after it was headed by the deputy chairman of the Chechen government andMinister of Agriculture of the Republic Yakub Zakriev.

The FT writes that in a letter sent to Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev, Airat Mukhamadeev, DIRECTOR of the recently created company owned by Vamin, said that it had agreed to pay 17.7 billion rubles ($191.5 million) to gain control over Danone's Russian business. Of this, 7.7 billion rubles will go to servicing the debt in the Russian business, and the rest will go to paying for Danone's share in the company.

In a letter to the minister, Mukhamadeev also said the deal price represented a 56 percent discount to the market value of the business, according to an independent valuation provided by the company. He noted that to ensure the continuity of its former Russian business, Danone had agreed to provide support until the end of July next year as Life & Nutrition continues to localize the production of some ingredients to maintain “the high quality of products that Russian consumers are accustomed to.”

Two sources confirmed to the newspaper that the French group was seeking to sell the Russian business to Vamin.

Danone's press service told RBC that they are focused on ensuring the safety of their employees and protecting their property and rights. Due to the "volatility and uncertainty of the situation," the company cannot yet comment on this matter.

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French dairy producer Danone announced the start of the process of transferring its business in Russia in October 2022. Before that, the company had ruled out leaving the Russian market. Among the contenders for Danone's assets at various times were agricultural holdings, such as Rusagro, Cherkizovo, Agrarta, EkoNiva, Tkachev Agrocomplex and others, as well as Arab and Chinese investment funds.

In July 2023, the shares of foreign companies in Danone's Russian subsidiary came under the temporary management of the Federal Property Management Agency, with the corresponding decree signed by President Vladimir Putin . After that, Danone Russia was headed by Yakub Zakriev, who is the nephew of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. In November, he was sanctioned by the United States. Since 2017, Charlie Cappetti has been the company's CEO.

The FT wrote at the time that while Zakriev is the CEO of the renamed Life & Nutrition, Cappetti continues to carry out many of the company's responsibilities unofficially. He and other company executives, both foreign and Russian, maintain regular contact with Danone's head office in Paris to ensure the smooth operation of the enterprises, the newspaper's sources said.