Rosatom Takes Full Control of Russia's Delo Logistics Group

Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear company, took full control of Delo logistics group by acquiring the remaining 51% stake it did not already own, purchased directly from the company's founder, Sergei Shishkarev. With this deal, the state corporation aims to build Russia's largest national transport network spanning rail terminals, ports and road freight.

Rosatom already held 49% of Delo. Neither party officially disclosed the final transaction amount, though Splash 247 reported that the cross-purchase mechanism triggered this year valued Shishkarev's 51% stake at 77 billion rubles (about $900 million), while Rosatom's 49% stake had been appraised at 74 billion rubles.

Rosatom's CEO, Alexei Likhachev, announced that a joint management center will be created for Delo, shipping group Fesco and other transport assets, unifying shipping, port, rail, road transport and logistics operations. Rosatom holds a 92.5% stake in Vladivostok-based Fesco, which operates more than 30 vessels, container and rail operations, and the Vladivostok Commercial Sea Port. According to the state corporation, the combined logistics assets will account for around 50% of Russia's container handling market and 44% of container rail transport.

Delo is Russia's leading container logistics operator, with maritime and inland terminals, a container fleet with capacity exceeding 220,000 TEU and roughly 40,000 rail flatcars. The group also controls the KSK grain bulk terminal at the Port of Novorossiysk, Russia's largest grain export terminal on the Black Sea, with annual capacity of up to 10 million tonnes. That terminal, along with other key Black Sea grain export hubs, temporarily suspended operations this summer over security concerns and Ukrainian attacks on port infrastructure.

Shishkarev confirmed the sale of his stake and said he would allocate a significant portion of the proceeds to national security needs, amid a context in which several Russian businessmen have made donations to support the state budget, strained by the war in Ukraine. The deal expands the ambitions of Rosatom, the world's largest builder of nuclear power plants, which is also in charge of developing the Northern Sea Route, an Arctic corridor promoted by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a strategic priority.

The deal ends a prolonged ownership dispute between Rosatom and Shishkarev. Rosatom had triggered the mutual buyout mechanism in February following disagreements with Delo's founder, who initially opted to acquire Rosatom's stake but later abandoned that route and returned the purchase right to the state corporation, which ultimately completed the acquisition and announced the agreement on October 7.