Monday, September 24, 2012

Jim Rogers to Take Advisory Role with Russian Agriculture Fund


Jim Rogers appears to have had a change of heart about Russia. He has taken a job as an advisor to the agricultural fund run by Russian state-owned banking giant VTB Capital, reports Business News Europe.

"Russia and the [Commonwealth of Independent States] region have all the ingredients needed to become the world's agriculture powerhouse. It seems that everything may now be coming together under VTB Capital to make this happen, so I am keen to participate," Rogers, who is also chairman of Rogers Holdings and Beeland Interests, said in a statement, issued by the bank on Tuesday, September 19.

"VTB Capital sees high potential in Russian agricultural market and plans to attract from $500mn to $1bn of the investments into the sector based on its phased development strategy. Russia and the broader CIS region is developing into a global agriculture superpower with its proximity to China, Middle East and North Africa resulting in it taking a leading role in the export of key agricultural commodities such as wheat, barley, corn and sunflower oil," the bank said.

BNE comments:
The move is quite a turnabout for Rogers, who is known for his bearish stance on Russia. He once famously told an audience at Harvard Business School that the country was a kleptoracy and that he would never invest there.
 "Jim Rogers is a global icon and thought leader in commodity investment trends and understands the importance of this region in the global commodity supply dynamic. Jim sees the investment opportunity in regional agriculture resulting from its low-cost, highly fertile cropping land, potential productivity gains, abundant water supply and close proximity to the high demand regions of MENA and China via established shipping routes," said Tim Demchenko, global head of private equity and special situations at VTB Capital.

Jim Rogers will be my guest on the Robert Wenzel Show, this coming Sunday. You can be sure I will ask him about this move.

5 comments:

  1. What do you wanna bet he is getting paid in gold or oil?

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  2. Please do ask whether he's worried that the rule of law in Russia amounts to a big fat zero. What prevents Putin from seizing VTB's assets a la Gazprom (w/ oligarch, Khodorkovsky, in jail).

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    1. Bob, please, do your homework, it wasn't Gasprom but Yukos.

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  3. Does this mean the 9/11 broadcast won't be released?

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  4. Taking their money as an advisor is not the same thing as giving them your money as an investment. Rogers knows exactly where the opportunities are and in his mind this is "Free money".

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