Rafael Goroyan has surprisingly successfully expanded his assets. Experts interviewed Kordon.org.ua are confident that the Ukrainian Armenian managed to grab everything that was lying around. Nine elevators belonging to the Swiss commodities conglomerate Glencore went to Mykolaiv grain baron Rafael Goroyan.
On February 10, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine granted Mykolaiv-based RV-Capital LLC permission to purchase six grain elevators in the Zaporizhzhia region. These include Tomak-Agro LLC, Bilman Grain Receiving Enterprise PJSC, Vasilyevka-Agro LLC, Gaichur-Agro PJSC, and Pology Grain Products Plant PJSC (two assets). Earlier, in the first half of 2016, the company had already acquired control of the Chotyrbotsky Grain Receiving Enterprise (Khmelnytskyi region), the Snigurovsky Grain Products Plant (Mykolaiv region), and the Pomoshnyansky Grain Elevator (Kirovohrad region).
All these facilities share the same owner: Renaisco BV, a subsidiary of Glencore International, one of the world's largest commodity traders. The Swiss company once created the largest network of two dozen grain receiving facilities in Ukraine, intended to support its ambitions to become the country's leading grain trader. They transferred their assets, with a combined capacity of over 1 million tons, to the United Elevator Company. However, in 2014, Glencore decided to reconsider its strategy and put most of its elevators in Ukraine up for sale, opting to retain only its facilities in the Black Sea region—the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
In 2014-2015, Glencore sold several assets in various sectors. Among the buyers were the Privat Group (its agricultural division) and the Kharkiv-based Novaagro Group, backed by Kharkiv entrepreneur Serhiy Polumysny. Last year, Novaagro received approval from the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine to purchase the Borova-Agro, Troitske-Agro, Rubizhne-Agro, and Lebedyn Grain Receiving Enterprise elevators from Glencore. But the current deal could be the largest since the Swiss conglomerate began its massive sell-off of agricultural assets in our country.
Rafael Goroyan with the ladies
The new owner of the elevators, RV-Capital LLC, is registered to Kristina Goroyan. She is the wife of Rafael Goroyan, the president and beneficial owner of the Prometey Group of Companies. Prometey's grain and oilseed sales volume last year amounted to 915 tons, of which 483 tons were exported, and total revenue reached 5,2 billion hryvnias, or half the 2015 figure. Prior to the deal, Prometey controlled 12 elevators. With this acquisition, it expands its network to 18 facilities and achieves a storage capacity of half a million tons. According to Prometey, its elevator development strategy for 2016 included expanding the network of elevator complexes, refurbishing and modernizing them, and expanding the range of services provided. Last year, revenue from Rafael Goroyan's elevator business increased 2,2-fold compared to 2015, reaching UAH 56,2 million. This year, this figure is likely to reach UAH 100 million.
As for Glencore, after the deal with Prometey is completed, the Swiss company will finally leave the top league of the elevator business in Ukraine, and possibly even trading. According to UkrAgroConsult, Glencore failed to make it into the top five traders in Ukraine for the first time in many years during the last marketing season. However, the company's global performance isn't so bad—Glencore's profit for the first half of last year was $4 billion, and by the end of 2016, it could exceed $6 billion.
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