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- Ours in the network: the creation of a global logistics operator with the participation of the Russian Federation has been given the green light
Ours in the network: the creation of a global logistics operator with the participation of the Russian Federation has been given the green light
FAS has agreed on a deal between Rosatom State Corporation and DP World to create the world's largest logistics operator on the basis of the FESCO transport group, Izvestia has learned. The Arab company, through a joint venture with Rosatom, Global Logistics, will receive a share in the Far Eastern Shipping Company (DVMP, the parent structure of FESCO). Experts estimate the deal at 145-160 billion rubles. It will allow the Russian side to attract a partner with expertise in international logistics and a well—developed customer network in Europe and Asia, and the Arab side to gain access to transportation along the Northern Sea Route, which can reduce the delivery time of goods from China to Europe by about half. Now these cargoes are transported mainly through the Suez Canal.
What does the deal include?
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has agreed a deal between Rosatom State Corporation and DP World (Dubai Port World) to buy out the latter 49% in a joint venture (JV), through which it will receive a stake in the Far Eastern Shipping Company (DVMP, the parent structure of the FESCO transport group). A source close to one of the parties to the deal told Izvestia about this, and an interlocutor familiar with Rosatom's position confirmed it.
The deal is currently under consideration by the Board of Directors, two Izvestia interlocutors close to the companies noted. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, on December 24, 2025, Rosatom registered Global Logistics LLC, a joint venture into which it is planned to contribute 92.5% of the shares of DVMP. The Russian side will keep 51%, the Arab side will receive 49% in exchange for a monetary contribution.
A FAS representative declined to comment. Izvestia sent inquiries to Rosatom and DP World.
FESCO Group is one of the largest Russian transport and logistics companies that performs container transportation by sea, rail and motor transport. It carries out transportation in the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic Oceans. The Group operates terminal complexes in Vladivostok, Novosibirsk, Khabarovsk, Tomsk and Kaliningrad. The container fleet is owned and managed by almost 200 thousand people. TEU (the equivalent of a 20-foot container), as well as almost 15 thousand fitting platforms for container transportation. The fleet consists of more than 35 vessels with a total cargo capacity of 678 thousand tons. Its own port and terminal complexes together have a capacity of more than 1.11 million TEU per year. In January 2023, the group's 92.4% controlling stake was transferred to state ownership at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, and on November 8 it was transferred to Rosatom. Previously, the securities belonged to former Forbes list member Ziyavudin Magomedov, his brother, ex-senator Magomed Magomedov, and other shareholders. According to the results of the first half of 2025 (the latest available data), FESCO's revenue under IFRS increased by 12% compared to a year earlier to 87.7 billion rubles, net profit decreased 1.6 times to 709 million. EBITDA (which reflects earnings before interest, taxes, and depreciation) increased year-on-year by 9%, 19.79 billion rubles, and EBITDA margin decreased by 0.5 percentage points, to 22.6%, the report says.
DP World announced its intention to buy a stake in FESCO (30-40%) back in 2017, and then in 2020. At that time, it was already about 49%, but the deal never took place. Rumors about the renewed interest of the Emirati operator in the Russian company reappeared in 2024 against the background of the creation by Rosatom and DP World in October 2023 of the joint venture International Container Logistics for the development of transportation along the Northern Sea Route (NSR). Already in the fall of 2025, Kommersant reported that DP World was negotiating with Rosatom to purchase a 50% minus one share package from FESCO. It was also reported that the signing of the deal at the Eastern Economic Forum in September 2025 was prevented by the sanctions imposed by the EU against FESCO.
The cost of the Arab side's package, based on the multipliers of international operators with a 50% discount, is 145-150 billion rubles, and the entire company is estimated at 300 billion, said Sofia Kirsanova, senior analyst at Cber CIB. Bonus Fabula analyst Dmitry Kumanovsky estimated the entire company at 320 billion rubles, and the 49% stake sold by DP World at 160 billion rubles. The market capitalization of DVMP as of April 6 on the Moscow Stock Exchange is 193 billion rubles.
If DP World acquires a stake in FESCO (from 41.5%) and then both parties contribute their shares to the joint venture, it becomes necessary to make a mandatory offer to minority shareholders, Sofia Kirsanova noted. According to the law No. 208-FZ "On Joint-Stock Companies", it must be put up by the buyer. The repurchase price corresponds to the largest of the values between the weighted average price over the past six months (about 54 rubles) and the value of the company as part of the transaction, the expert explained. Rosatom contributes 92.5% of FESCO to the joint venture, and an investor from the UAE contributes funds, Dmitry Kumanovsky added.
The minority shareholders of FESCO will then receive a binding offer from the money on the balance sheet of the International Container Logistics joint venture, he suggests. According to the source, large shareholders do not need publicity in the company they are creating, and part of the capital can be spent on buying out securities from minority shareholders, taking into account the valuation, which includes a control premium for the Arab company.
How will the DP World and Rosatom deal affect global cargo transportation
The deal between Rosatom and DP World will significantly enhance the development of the Northern Sea Route, and the Arab side will gain access to cargo transportation in the Russian Arctic, Sofia Kirsanova notes. Vessels through the NSR are required to sail under the Russian flag. On March 31, the US Treasury lifted sanctions against the container ships Fesco Moneron, Fesco Magadan and the cargo ship Sv. Nikolai.
Transportation via the NSR will halve the transportation of goods from China to Europe on nuclear icebreakers through the Arctic, explains Dmitry Kumanovsky. According to him, now the main flow of container traffic between East and West passes through the Suez Canal, and the average delivery time is 45-60 days. In early October 2025, China delivered its goods to Europe through the NSR for the first time. The delivery time was 20 days. An additional factor in the growing interest in the route is the security risks on the traditional route amid the worsening situation in the Middle East, the expert added.
Against the background of the expected long-term partnership with the Russian side, Arab DP World sold its stake in the Ukrainian container terminal to TIS and P&O Maritime in March 2026. Almost six years after the acquisition, the company withdrew from the joint venture at TIS Container Terminal Limited in the Pivdenny port (also known as Yuzhny) in the Odessa region. The stake was bought back by Transinvestservice (TIS), local media reported.
Cargo transportation along the Northern Sea Route will reach volumes by the early 2030s that will allow ships to be launched "like electric trains," state Corporation CEO Alexei Likhachev said on April 2 on the sidelines of the International Transport and Logistics Forum. The volume of cargo traffic along the NSR should reach 100 million tons by this period, Alexei Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, said in an interview with Vedomosti in August 2025.
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