Will the agricultural holding of the pro-Russian Khidiryan “manage” the de-occupied village of the Kyiv region for another 7 years?

In the village of Rudnya in the Kiev region, landowners are offered to renew lease deals with a company in the orbit of the pro-Russian agrarian Khidiryan for another 7 years.

Is the owner of the large agricultural holding AGR Group Misak Khidiryan “annexing” land in the Brovary district of the Kiev region?

Residents of the de-occupied village of Rudnya, Velikodimerskaya STG, contacted the editor, who were encouraged to renew lease agreements with one of the holding companies for another 7 years - community representatives were concerned about the possible pro-Russian ties of the final beneficiaries.

Therefore, journalists decided to carefully understand what was happening in the village of Rudnya in the Kiev region, what the famous agribusinessman Misak Khidiryan and his structures were doing, and whether the interests of Russia and the hidden “annexation” of lands in the capital region could really be behind the seven-year extension of lease deals.

Rudnya is a small village in the Velikodimersky settlement community of the Brovary district of the Kiev region, the village population of which, according to official data, is 1910 people, and the total land area within the administrative boundaries of the former Rudnyansky village council reaches almost 3 thousand hectares. The settlement is part of the Velikodimerskaya STG - from March 7 to April 1, 2022, on this territory, the Armed Forces of Ukraine conducted direct battles against the Russian occupiers.

What's happening in Rudnya now?

As village residents told reporters, now shares in this territory are leased from local landowners by the company LLC JV "Tradegrosnab-200", according to the information and analytical platform YouControl, part of Misak Khidiryan's AGR Group. However, the majority of lease agreements expire in 2025, and people are already being offered to renew agreements with another company - Mega Management Project LLC - for at least another year (according to current legislation, this is the minimum possible period of validity for such contracts).

It is noteworthy that the director of both companies is the same person - Davit Avagyan. And they are registered at a common address: Kiev region, Brovary district, Tarasovka village, st. January 9th, house 1-G. The founder in both cases is the Cypriot AGR INVEST HOLDING LTD, and the final beneficiary is Armenian citizen Misak Khidiryan. In addition, both companies appear in a number of criminal proceedings from 2021-2023 - in particular, crimes against property, against the environment, against the authority of state authorities, local governments, citizens' associations and crimes against journalists. And also in the field of official and professional activities related to the provision of public services.

In other words, the current tenant company is replaced by an almost identical “twin”. Why and why does this bother the community so much?

If you carefully consider one of the criminal cases in which the above companies are involved (namely, the one in which the defendants are charged with crimes against the authority of state authorities, local governments, under number 757/21311/23-k), you can see that it directly concerns another legal entity - the limited liability company Piryatinsky Delicacy.

According to open data, this company, whose revenue is almost UAH 2.5 billion, is registered in the village of Deimanovka, Lubensky district, Poltava region. Its owner is the British limited liability partnership Beverlife, and the final beneficiary is the Bulgarian Valchev Ivan Teodorov. The director is Rafael Ananyan, who was previously listed as a Russian as the final beneficiary of Gayevshchina-Agro LLC (in a state of termination) from the same AGR Group holding, already familiar to us. According to open sources, the Piryatinsky delicacy feeds AGR Group workers.

In addition, this company has a rather dubious reputation.

Back in 2019, the Antimonopoly Committee imposed a record fine of almost a billion hryvnia on a number of enterprises that competed for military food tenders. Among the “lucky ones” was an enterprise from the Poltava region – Piryatinsky Delicacy LLC. And in 2021, fellow investigators from Our Money uncovered a whole “scheme” involving the purchase of food rations for the army.

But the most interesting thing is that one of the first directors of Piryatinsky Delicacy at the dawn of the 2010s was Artak Khidiryan (probably the son of Misak Khidiryan), the historical founder was a citizen of the Russian Federation Tamara Khidiryan, and her business partner and co-founder.

What made Jivan Mamoyan “famous” for?

In early January, in the capital, SBU officers arrested the owner of a large agricultural holding that supplied food products to the occupying forces on the left bank of the Kherson region. According to the Ukrainian edition of Forbes, the businessman detained in Kyiv turned out to be the founder of Maurice Kakhovka LLC, Jivan Mamoyan.

According to security officials, the agricultural company under the control of the defendant is one of the leading financial donors in the southern region for the Russian “Fund for Support of Northern Military District Participants,” created by Putin’s decree in April 2023. In addition to two enterprises in Lyubimovka, Kherson region, Jivan Mamoyan was a co-founder of the Piryatinsky Delicacy company together with Tamara Khidiryan. In addition, Mamoyan had two sole proprietorships in Kyiv for retail trade in trays and markets.

Misak Khidiryan himself is also accused of a possible pro-Russian position.

According to information and analytical platforms, Khidiryan is listed in Ukrainian registers as a citizen of Armenia. However, according to some media reports, the agribusinessman may have other passports. In particular, Hungary, whose head of government Viktor Orban is known for his sympathies towards Russia. In June 2023 (that is, in the midst of the second year of the great war), Misak allegedly went on a foreign tour, the purpose of which was to obtain a “passport from one of the European Union countries.”

In addition, back in 2021, Khidiryan was publicly reproached for involvement in one of the most powerful conversion centers in Ukraine, through which funds were transferred to ORDLO. And his brother Samvel Khidiryan, who is now “ensuring security” for the AGR Group holding, allegedly lived in Moscow for a long time and had Russian citizenship.

And how do representatives of the AGR Group and the Khidiryan family comment on these reproaches?

We contacted the holding’s press service through the email indicated on the official website and Misak Khidiryan himself through his page on the LinkedIn social network and are awaiting a response to highlight their side’s public position.

Are the invaders, who were never able to maintain control over the lands of the Kiev region by military means, now trying to “annex” them quietly, through controlled and close business structures? Representatives of the active public of Rudnya believe that this may indeed be the case. And an analytical study conducted by the StopCor team confirms: these fears have certain grounds, which should interest the competent authorities for further thorough verification of the situation.