In his interview with RIA Novosti, Yuri Luzhkov admitted that he was trying to expand his agricultural production, go directly to retail chains, as well as complained of oats.
The former Mayor of the Russian capital told that his venture in the Kaliningrad region brought a total of 10,000 tons of grain (barley, wheat, buckwheat) in 2017, and buckwheat harvest helped to cover 2/3 of the region’s needs.
“Via our wholesale unit, we’re trying to work with retailers, Pyatyorochka, Kopeika. Without any favoritism,” Luzhkov said, adding that his business could supply up to 1,500 tons of buckwheat to Moscow per year. Luzhkov is not yet ready to call himself a businessman, although his company employs 126 people.
In his words, in a conversation with his wife, Yelena Baturina, one of the richest women of Russia, Luzhkov calls farming “a hobby turning into a business”. “She says: "Okay." And laughs,” the former Mayor shared.
Luzhkov acknowledges that his company might encounter problems because of falling incomes, Russians are increasingly moving from buckwheat to oats. “People have been saving on food. Buckwheat is expensive, its cost is twice as much as the cost of oatmeal,” the former Mayor complained.
Things are going well for his family. A large portion of Baturina’s business is in the United States and Western Europe, according to Luzhkov: "After she and the girls had to leave Russia, she built a completely new, diverse business.”
In November 2017, Yuri Luzhkov published his memoirs, in which, inter alia, he unveiled his version of leaving the post of Mayor. Now Luzhkov owns a stud farm Veedern in the Kaliningrad region, which is positioned as a diversified agricultural enterprise.
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