France’s Louis Dreyfus, Russian investment group Summa and four other Russian firms may vie for a large stake in Russia’s largest grain trader, government-owned United Grain Co. (UGC), two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
For Dreyfus, winning the stake in UGC would sharpen its competitive edge among the world’s top grain traders, while Summa would vault into a hugely influential position as Russia is poised to become the world’s second-largest wheat exporter this year, recovering from 2010’s drought.