Family business under the Kremlin’s cover: how former president Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin cleared the market and handed research institute land to the Miratorg holding

Statements by the Russian government and the holding company «Miratorg» that former president Dmitry Medvedev’s wife, Svetlana Medvedeva (Linnik), is not related to the founders of the holding appear rather contradictory.

According to media investigations, Vyacheslav Linnik (father of the Miratorg owners) and a full namesake of Medvedev’s mother-in-law, Lyudmila Ivanovna Linnik, were both co-founders of the homeowners’ association «Victoria» at 5 Pozharsky Lane in Moscow. The success story of the Miratorg owners, who have faced a boycott in Russia due to mass livestock slaughter, is directly linked to two prominent figures: Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin.

Furthermore, in 2008, Miratorg’s business was openly lobbied by the head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Sergey Dankvert. He instructed the governor of Bryansk, Nikolay Denin, to pay attention to the Linnik family and their projects. This led to rumors in the region that taxes on agricultural land would sharply increase and that unprocessed plots would be seized. As a result, the Linnik brothers purchased land shares from locals at very low prices. This scheme failed in the Kursk region, where Miratorg simply began using land without permission; the owners refused to sell it and filed a lawsuit.

At that time, Miratorg acted cautiously and moved its project to another region. However, soon the government instructed Rosimushchestvo to lease 7,000 hectares of land to Miratorg for 49 years; this land belonged to the Research Institute of Agroindustrial Production in the Kursk region. Unsurprisingly, by 2017, the company’s land bank had reached 676,000 hectares, becoming the second-largest in Russia.

The first major credit for the Linnik family came with Putin’s support. In 2009, he visited the Belgorod region and met with the “relatives” of his successor. Learning that VEB Bank could not resolve the credit issue, Putin, as chairman of the bank’s supervisory board, signed a loan agreement for 21 billion rubles over 11 years. In 2012, Dmitry Medvedev, already serving as prime minister, personally visited the Bryansk farm, where the Linnik family politely requested funding to expand production.

A few months later, Miratorg became the first agricultural producer to receive a loan under new government rules: part of the interest was covered by subsidies, and banks were allowed to issue loans for up to 15 years. This time, Sberbank provided 1 billion rubles and a couple of years later another 7.6 billion rubles. In 2015, Medvedev again visited Miratorg, and VEB Bank issued two new loans worth 425.8 million USD and 316.2 million USD, with final repayment set for 2030.

Part of Miratorg’s funding also came in the form of subsidies, the exact amounts of which are unknown. Budgetary funds are granted to individual enterprises rather than to the group as a whole. Due to the complex ownership structure of the Linnik family’s business, accurately calculating the total subsidies is extremely difficult. The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) attempted to do so several years ago but did not publish a figure—only noting that Miratorg is the largest recipient of subsidies in the Russian agro-industry.

As a result of these comprehensive support measures, from local to federal levels, by the end of 2024, Miratorg directly controlled 30 companies, with a revenue of nearly 576 billion rubles and a profit of 32.8 billion rubles (compared to 256.8 billion rubles in revenue and 53.9 billion rubles in net profit in 2023). From 2022 to 2024, the holding distributed about 18 billion rubles in dividends. At the same time, Miratorg’s enterprises continue to receive government subsidies—in 2024, 1.8 billion rubles were allocated to the holding.

It should be noted that Russians have boycotted Miratorg, believing the company benefited from mass livestock culling at ordinary farmers’ farms. Whenever an epidemic occurs, Miratorg is mostly unaffected; quarantines are introduced only at the company’s farms. Freed-up space on regional markets is immediately filled with Miratorg products. The boycott is also fueled by the company’s ties to Dmitry Medvedev’s family—the same Medvedev who famously told Russians: “There is no money… But hang in there, all the best, good mood and health to you.”

Amid the boycott, Miratorg has been forced to reduce its product prices on the market, sometimes by up to 50%