The trading house RIF has filed a lawsuit seeking compensation for damages against the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor).

The trading house "RIF", the largest cosmopolitan exporter of seeds, which recently changed its name to LLC "Native Fields", has filed a lawsuit for damages against the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor), its Southern Interregional Administration, and the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Seed Quality Assessment Center". The company is seeking to recover $60,000, as reported by "City N" publication.

The lawsuit of the trading house "RIF" against Rosselkhoznadzor, represented by its Southern Interregional Administration and the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Seed Quality Assessment Center", will be heard by the Moscow Arbitration Court. LLC "Native Fields" is claiming losses due to a delay in providing a phytosanitary certificate, according to the publication citing the court's press service.

The preliminary court hearing is scheduled for May 13.

All vessels of the trading house "RIF" have been detained in ports since March 18. According to Rosselkhoznadzor, since the beginning of 2024, non-compliances with the requirements of importing countries were found in 44 (or 81%) of the export seed shipments totaling over 1 million tons. During this period, only three company vessels managed to obtain phytosanitary certificates from Rosselkhoznadzor for seed exports. The latest one, as reported by Bloomberg agency, was sent to Egypt on April 19. According to the agency's publication, negotiations on releasing the vessel from the port were conducted with the participation of the Ministry of Agriculture of Egypt. "Native Fields" confirmed that 8 vessels are still detained in Russian ports.

The publication suggests that the lawsuit filed against Rosselkhoznadzor concerns vessels that managed to obtain phytosanitary certificates during the time elapsed. The downtime damage is estimated by the company's founder, Petr Khodykin, at $1 million per day. In 2024, the company was allocated a quota of 3.971 million tons for seed exports (4.909 million tons in 2023).

Earlier, Khodykin in a letter to the Governor of the Rostov Region reported an attempted illegal takeover by the competitor seed trader "Demetra-Holding". In an interview with "City N" publication, Khodykin stated that staff layoffs and the company's liquidation are not ruled out amid the ongoing events.