In the early 2000s, Russian industrialist and public figure Oleg Deripaska, a native of Ust-Labinsk District, established an agricultural holding based on several former collective farms. The holding went on to become one of Southern Russia’s leading agribusinesses. Although he exited the company in 2018, Progress Agro has continued to grow and develop.
The holding was built around a long-term strategy focused on continuous improvement and investment in production and R&D.
Since 2007, the company has built its production processes around kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement developed within the Toyota Production System.
In the second half of the 2010s, the agricultural holding implemented several large investment projects, introduced new methods of sustainable land use, and opened a retail chain under its own brand Moya Stanitsa.
At the same time, the company developed a strong R&D base, which allowed the company to be the first in Russia to develop and implement advanced practices and technologies in crop production and animal husbandry.
Progress Agro Group was formed following a reorganisation in March 2019. It includes:
- Crop and livestock farming companies: Rassvet JSC, Mir JSC, Kolkhoz Progress, Voskhod Stud Farm
- Grain elevator facilities: Korenovskii Elevator JSC, Yuzhnyi Melnik, Elevator LLC
- Processing facilities: Yuzhnyi Meat Processing Plant LLC, Svoboda Sugar Factory JSC
In April 2020, the Progress Agro Group of Companies was included in the official list of systemically important enterprises in Russia’s agro-industrial sector.
Today, the company comprises around 20 enterprises involved in livestock farming, crop production, processing and retail. Annual investment in production ranges from RUB 500 million to RUB 1 billion.