Russia's VTB Buys into Grain Elevator

Russia's VTB bank, which has transformed itself into a major grain trader within a year, has bought into a grain elevator in the country's south and plans to expand its storage capacities further, a senior executive told Interfax newsagency.

According to a report at Successful Farming, VTB, Russia's second biggest bank, has become the largest operator of domestic grain infrastructure after it snapped up a number of assets last year. In April, it sold nearly a half of its grain unit, the Demetra Holding, to two other Russian firms.

To build-up the full-scale grain business, VTB has bought its first grain elevator, the Ipatovsky Bakery Plant located in Russia's southern region of Stavropol with storage capacity of 75,000 tonnes of grain.