The sale has been made to CMA CGM’s partner in the business, Aleksandr Kakhidze, a local businessman, who was formerly a Russian Railways’ (RZD) executive. The sale deal includes an option for CMA CGM to return to the business sometime in the future, if circumstances permit.

In the opinion of Russian market experts, the French company could not get a good price for its stake in the current circumstances in Russia, where sellers themselves have to pay to abandon a toxic market.

Moscow has recently passed a decree obliging foreign companies to sell their local assets for no more than half the [depressed] market price and make substantial financial contributions to the federal budget before leaving Russia.

CMA CGM entered Logoper’s shareholding in February 2018, a couple of months after the two firms sought to acquire a controlling interest in TransContainer, Russia’s largest rail container operator, from RZD. However, TransContainer was eventually sold to Delo, the nation’s leading transport and logistics group.

Last year, CMA Terminals withdrew from the Moby Dick marine and Yanino inland terminals operated by Russia’s Global Ports Investments (GPI) near St Petersburg. At the same time, Denmark’s A P Møller-Maersk sold its 30.75% block in GPI to Russia’s Delo group.

CMA CGM has made a strong contribution to Logoper’s development, according to Kakhidze. The company’s immediate aim is to increase its fleet of containers, currently 28,000 40fts, and develop regular Europe-Asia rail services with the help of its logistics backbone.

Logoper is part of Kakhidze’s FinInvest group also comprising a ship operator (Panda Express Line) and a 1M TEU/year rail container hub under construction near Moscow. By 2026, FinInvest is planning to build nine more terminals with an aggregate capacity of 5M TEU/year all over the country, from Moscow to the Far East. The RUB 100B (around US$1.2B) network is expected to help redirecting Russia’s exports from Europe to Asia.

Last year, Logoper transported more than 120,000 TEU and doubled its revenue to RUB 15B, although profit was not disclosed. In 2021, net profit came to RUB905M.