Forbes Names Russia's Largest Investors in Agriculture and Retail

Russia 10.11.2025

Sourse: agroexpert.press

According to the new Forbes ranking of '100 Largest Investment Companies in Russia,' several representatives from the agricultural sector and food retail have emerged as leaders in terms of investment volume. Their combined investments in 2024 exceeded 840 billion rubles, reflecting a steady interest in the development of the food sector and logistics infrastructure amid import substitution and domestic demand.

Forbes Names Russia's Largest Investors in Agriculture and Retail

The top spot among food sector companies was taken by "Magnit," which increased its investments to 165.8 billion rubles from 74.6 billion the previous year. The company rose to the 20th position in the overall Forbes ranking, becoming the largest investor in the retail sector.

The second position among agricultural and retail players was secured by the X5 Retail Group, which manages the "Pyaterochka," "Perekrestok," and "Chizhik" chains. Their investments amounted to 161 billion rubles (21st place in the overall ranking).

Food Producers and Grain Exporters

Among agro-industrial companies, the largest investments were made by:

The Cherkizovo Group — 48.2 billion rubles,
Rusagro — 45.2 billion rubles,
Demetra Holding, one of the largest grain exporters — 32.6 billion rubles.

Also included in the list are:

Lenta (30.4 billion rubles),
Atlantis Group, which unites food production for fast food chains (25.4 billion rubles),
Dynasty Holding (21 billion rubles).

Fertilizer and Agrochemical Producers

Leading the chemical-agricultural sector are EuroChem and Acron, with investments amounting to 93.6 billion and 81.2 billion rubles respectively. In fifth place among agricultural and retail companies is the marketplace RVB (Wildberries & Russ) with investments of 80.1 billion rubles.

Following are:

PhosAgro — 75.3 billion rubles (40th place in the overall ranking),
Uralkali — 50.8 billion rubles (52nd place).

Investment Market Trends

According to Forbes, the agricultural sector and retail are among the most capital-intensive sectors of the Russian economy, with growth observed in both production and logistics assets. The increase in investments is associated with:

modernization of food processing and storage,
digitalization of retail networks,
expansion of the domestic market following the departure of foreign brands.

Experts note that the growth in investments by food companies in 2024 was on average 40–70% higher than the level of 2023, reflecting a general trend towards reindustrialization and food autonomy.