Page 11 - bne_Tech_06_2020

Investment
June 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
Russia's VTB to digitise grain expansion with Smartseeds
Russia's Demetra Holding is planning to acquire an IT start-up optimising grain transportation Smartseeds for over RUB200mn, Kommersant daily reported.
Russia's second-largest bank, VTB Bank, is uniting its grain assets in Demetra Holding. As reported by bne IntelliNews, VTB has been hoovering up assets in the grain export sector and now controls about a fifth of the business, becoming the largest operator of grain infrastructure in the process.
Digitising the truck transportation of grain
will allow VTB to transform the sector, which remains largely in the shade and dominated by unregistered transactions, analysts and industry players told Kommersant.
They suggested, however, that VTB would have to lobby for increasing the loading capacities of grain-carrying trucks and for better roads
if it wants to improve the competitiveness and efficiency of grain transportation.
Reportedly, VTB eyed several IT solutions for grain transportation and chose Smartseeds,
which was founded by Kirill Podolsky, the founder or Valars Groups agro holding and IT services Anywayanyday, Localway and Myhomeday.
Currently, the Smartseeds platform could handle 3,000 shippers and the largest grain exporters such as RD Rif, Glencore, Mirogroup (part of Demetra) and others. The start-up could help VTB to organise the transportation of grain
and to maintain queuing protocols at the grain terminals.
In April 2020 VTB sold two stakes of 25% in Demetra to Maraton Group and Agronova, while maintaining control of its grain business. The investment was seen by the analysts surveyed by Reuters as a portfolio investment but not changing the landscape of the sector.
Reuters reminded that Marathon is co-owned by a Russian businessman, Alexander Vinokurov, and his partner. Both VTB and Marathon have stakes in the Russian food retailer Magnit. In turn, VTB and the owner of Agronova, Russian businessman Taimuraz Bolloyev, previously co- operated in the development of one of Russia’s southern airports.