Factories of the group "Bashmilk" are of the interest of big players
Negotiations with creditors are conducted by Izhevsk-based “Komos group”, Voronezh-based “EkoNiva” and “Molvest”, and other dairy producers. According to the Ministry of agriculture, potential investors are waiting for a decision on the bankruptcy of the group's plants in order to lease their capacity or buy property at auction.
The production capacity of the group "Bashmilk" of businessman Alexander Nikitin are of interest of the large Russian dairy holding companies. Minister of agriculture of the Republic Ilshat Fazrakhmanov reported this to "Kommersant", answering a question about the future of the Bashmilk group, in respect of whose enterprises creditors sent applications for insolvency to the arbitration court. According to the Minister, companies from the top ten Russian milk processors — Voronezh-based “Molvest” and “EkoNiva”, Izhevsk-based “Komos group”, and in addition Orenburg-based “A7 Agro” - are interested in the group's assets. They are all waiting for the start of bankruptcy proceedings, during which they will be able to either rent the property or buy it back at auction, said Mr. Faizrahmanov.
Some of these companies are already doing business in Bashkiria. Thus, Voronezh-based "EkoNiva" of Stefan Durr has started construction of three dairy complexes in the Republic worth 7.6 billion rubles for 11.6 thousand forage-fed cows. Orenburg-based group "A7 Agro" ("Letny lug (Summer meadow)", "Milk of Orenburg Region") in 2017 bought an unfinished dairy farm in the Zianchurinsky district, owned by State unitary agricultural enterprise Machine-technological station "Tsentralnaya", and invested more than 450 million rubles in the reconstruction. Izhevsk-based "Komos group" (dairy brands "Zelenoe Selo", "Molochnaya Rechka") in 2014 bought the Yanaul feed mill with a capacity of more than 70 thousand tons. The group announced its intention to increase the volume of milk processing to more than 1 million tons per year by 2021 (in 2018, it processed 428 thousand tons). “Molvest” (the brand "Vkusnoteevo") does not have assets in Bashkiria yet.
The group of companies “Bashmilk”, which combines LLC “Chekmagushevsky dairy plant”, JSC “Durtyulinsky dairy products plant”, the management company “Agricultural holding Bashmilk” and LLC “Milka” in Bashkiria, and LLC “Sabinsky dairy plant” in Tatarstan, produced products under the brands "Chestnoe korovje", "Kray kuraya", and "Dve korovki (Two cows)". In 2018, the group became the only Bashkir-based milk processor to enter the top 20 in Russia. The annual capacity of the group's plants was 120 thousand tons. In 2019, “Bashmilk” froze production due to complicated relations with creditors, the largest of which are the Rosselkhozbank and Sberbank. The arbitration court of Bashkiria considers applications for bankruptcy of all Republican enterprises of the group, as well as their owner Alexander Nikitin. The bankruptcy application of Mr. Nikitin was sent by Sberbank. In Tatarstan, a monitoring procedure has been introduced for the Sabinsky dairy plant. The total amount of creditors' claims in "Bashmilk" is estimated at about 1 billion rubles, the market value of assets - 3 billion rubles. Assets worth more than 250 million rubles, including real estate, transport, production facilities, and 99.9% of shares in the Dyurtyulinsky dairy plant, are pledged to the Rosselkhozbank. During the year, criminal cases were initiated against the management of the enterprises of “Bashmilk” group for non-payment of wages.
An interlocutor in the management of “Bashmilk” group said that the most active interest in the holding's plants was shown by Izhevsk-based “Komos group”. "According to our information, they were negotiating with the Rosselkhoznadzor", the employee said.
The owner of the group "Basmic" Alexander Nikitin has refused to comment.
“Komos group” and Rosselkhozbank did not respond promptly to requests from “Kommersant” the previous day.
The press service of the Ural Bank of Sberbank reported that the Bank financed the development of the dyurtyulinsky dairy plant. The term of repayment of the loan was in July 2019. The total amount of claims to the debtor in the Bank is estimated at 168 million rubles. "In September 2019, after negotiations with the debtor, the financial model and terms of the settlement agreement were approved, satisfying all parties", the Bank noted.— But due to non-fulfillment of the deferred conditions on the part of the debtor, the deal did not take place".
In August 2019, the Bashkiria authorities reported that they would help resolve the issues of “Bashmilk” holding with its creditors. Yesterday, Head of the Ministry of agriculture Ilshat Fazrakhmanov said that the government decided not to interfere in the dispute of economic entities.
Director of the Dairy Union of Russia Lyudmila Manitskaya notes that the Bashkir authorities, if desired, could help GC "Bashmilk" get out of trouble. "A lot, if not all, depends on the Russian Ministry of agriculture, which manages the Rosselkhoznadzor, and on the regional Ministry. Large companies are buying regional assets, but, as practice shows, then it is not always possible to control them effectively", said Ms. Manitskaya.
Raul Saifullin, managing partner of “Basic consulting”, believes that investors are increasingly interested in renting production capacities of distressed enterprises. "First, this is the source of funds for current expenses in the bankruptcy estate of the debtor. Secondly, it is beneficial to the lessee: of course, under the condition that he can negotiate with the main collateral lender and the bankruptcy Trustee", said the lawyer.
