Russia Tests a New Digital Investment Model for Agribusiness

Solving the Working Capital Gap

The new instrument addresses a long-standing bottleneck in Russia’s agricultural market. The domestic crop production market is currently valued at more than 1.5 trillion rubles (about $18 billion), yet there is a structural imbalance between farmers and processors. Processors traditionally operate with deferred payments, while agricultural producers need fast settlement and seek to minimize transportation and nonpayment risks.

This gap is typically bridged by agritraders, who handle wholesale transactions of agricultural products and raw materials. They raise funds, arrange logistics, and take responsibility for product quality until sale. The weakest link in this chain has been access to working capital needed to purchase crops from farmers without delays.

A Deal Without Delays

The pilot project introduces a secure and transparent framework for all market participants. On the Price of Grain digital platform, every stage of the transaction is visible across the “farmer – trader – processor” chain. Counterparties undergo verification, and all actions are monitored in real time.

Renaissance Insurance provides coverage for key risks, including financial risk in case a processor fails to pay, transportation risks such as cargo damage or loss due to accidents or theft, and losses related to quality deterioration during transit. This layered protection is designed to remove uncertainty from short-cycle agricultural deals.

We see significant potential for digitalizing financial and insurance services in the agricultural sector. Our joint task with Price of Grain is to implement counterparty scoring, objective risk assessment, and, as a result, offer insurance solutions to the industry. This will increase profitability for traders and create a new class of protected assets that are attractive to investors

Sergey Kozhevnikov

Vice President of Renaissance Insurance Group

As designed, the model opens the door for a broad range of investors to participate in asset-backed transactions tied to real commodities. Investors gain access to short-term instruments with maturities of one to two months and returns higher than average bank deposits. The structure is straightforward, risks are insured by a major insurer, and agritraders receive fast financing tied to specific contracts.

Scaling Up and Looking Beyond the Domestic Market

The new mechanism is expected to improve profitability across the agricultural sector, strengthen the financial stability of market players, and accelerate capital turnover. Pavel Konev, head of the Price of Grain platform, says the goal is to build a full suite of services between farmers and end buyers, covering transaction support, logistics, and financing.

A key feature of the model is built-in pricing with controlled core risks, while the participation of a large insurance company adds another layer of trust. Renaissance Insurance will allocate funds for initial transactions and pilot testing, and bank partners could later be brought in to expand working capital financing.

For now, the project is focused on Russia’s domestic market. However, its design aligns with global trends. Elements such as digital liquidity, transaction risk insurance, and counterparty scoring could be adapted for export-oriented scenarios, particularly in cooperation with CIS countries and Central Asia, provided local regulations are taken into account.