Miller Magazine Issue: 154 October 2022

34 MILLER / OCTOBER 2022 NEWS Bunge, one of the world’s largest traders of agricultural commodities, announced that it has agreed to sell its oilseed processing business in Russia to Karen Vanetsyan, the controlling shareholder of Exoil Group. The sale includes the sunflower processing plant in Vorone- zh. The completion of the sale is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. “We are grateful to the team for continuing to deliver essential food and feed in this challenging environment. With Karen Vanetsyan’s more than 25 years of experience in agricultural processing, we are confident the team will continue to successfully serve customers.” said Greg Heckman, Bunge’s CEO. Bunge opened the plant in Voronezh Region in 2008 at a cost of more than $130 million. It can pro- cess 540,000 tonnes of oilseeds and pro- duce over 200 million bottles of sunflower oil per year. Bunge CIS’s portfolio includes the Oleina, Ideal and Maslenitsa brands, among others. Bunge, one of the leading players on the world food mar- ket, set up a division in Russia in 2004. Bunge CIS increased its net profit to 1.9 billion rubles in 2021 from 1.3 billion rubles in 2020 on revenue up 60% to 30 billion rubles from 19.1 bil- lion rubles. Bunge and its rivals Archer-Daniels-Midland Co, Cargill Inc. and Louis Dreyfus Company, the so-called ABCD four global grain traders, began to wind down their operations in Russia in March. BUNGECOMPLETESTHESALEOF ITSMEXICOWHEATMILLS Bunge announced that it has completed the sale of its seven wheat mills in Mexico to Grupo Trimex. Bunge will continue to operate its corn mill in Querétaro and to serve its domestic oil and meal customers. Bunge began operations in Mexico in 1998 after acquiring the corn dry milling op- eration inside a Kellogg’s facility in Queréta- ro; that same year Bunge formed a partner- ship with one of the most recognized wheat mill in the country: Harinera La Espiga. In 2012 Bunge purchased the remaining shares of Harinera La Espiga, consolidating its presence in the Mexican market. A year later, Bunge Mexico acquired six mills from Grupo Altex, the largest acquisition in Bunge North Ameri- ca’s history which tripled the company’s size in Mexico. Bunge agrees to sell oilseed processing business in Russia