Crimean poultry farm to be purchased by compulsory order

Yuzhnaya Holding, a poultry farm of Avangardco, the largest producer of shell eggs and dry egg products in Ukraine, is to be purchased by compulsory order, the Minister of Agriculture of the Crimea Nikolay Polyushkin has said in a statement.

In recent months, Crimean officials have seized control of a number of Ukraine’s state-owned oil and gas companies on the peninsula and leaders have now revealed their first plans to target a publicly traded company, by announcing plans for a forced buyout of Avangardco’s local poultry-egg production factory.

Oleg Bakhmatyuk, the beneficial shareholder of Avangardco, has urged the representatives of the Russian authorities in the Crimea to reconsider their intention to “illegally seize private assets and start an open dialogue with the management regarding future business plans of Avangardco’s poultry farm on the Crimea peninsula.”

The management of Avangardco supports Bakhmatyuk’s statement and welcomes an open discussion regarding the future of the Crimea’s largest poultry farm, the company said in a statement. The company also said it reserves its right to defend any illegal claim on its assets in national and international courts.

The company will continue to monitor the situation and will update the market with any further developments as appropriate.

The company owns two poultry farms for shell egg production in the Crimea, Yuzhnaya Holding, a poultry farm for rearing young laying hens and Ptytsecomplex, a breeder farm.

Bakhmatyuk claims to have not received any offer, and says he has no plans to sell Avangardco’s assets in Crimea, estimated to be worth more than $200m, which also includes rice fields and agribusiness equipment. The Crimean operations account for less than 5% of Avangardco’s overall revenue.