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British-born farmer to sell Russian farm over children’s reluctance to continue business

The starting price is set at $58 million
John Kopiski (archive) ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Pochuyev
John Kopiski (archive)
© ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Pochuyev

VLADIMIR, May 5. /TASS/. British-born farmer John Kopiski who asked the Russian president about the hard life of milk producers in the country during Vladimir Putin’s recent question-and-answer annual conference said he was ready to sell his farm in the Vladimir region in central Russia.

The 65-year-old farmer said unwillingness of his five children to continue the agribusiness was compelling him to sell the farm at a price starting from 3 billion rubles ($58 million).

"I have a problem. I’m 65 and my son does not want to run the family business. What can I do? It is necessary to work and work. If the market is normal, I dream there will be buyers on it. This is not even a dream - I have no choice," Kopiski told TASS during a ceremony for tasting cheeses of his own production in a culinary studio in Vladimir.

The British-born farmer said he was ready to sell the agribusiness to a person interested in farming.

"It will be difficult to sell it. I won’t sell it to a bank or a financial investor of that type. I want to sell it to a person who would want to develop further what we have built. I don’t know whether there is such a person," Kopiski said.

The farmer said the starting price would be 3 billion rubles but "we’re ready to sell cheaper, if there is a good buyer willing to work further [at the farm]."

The Kopiski farm located in the village of Krutovo in the Petushki district of the Vladimir Region manages 3,600 cows, which yield 45 tons of milk daily.

Kopiski has already invested over 1.5 billion rubles ($29 million) in the farm, which produces eco-friendly meat and milk. Cheeses produced at the Kopiski farm have gained popularity lately.

Born in the United Kingdom, John Kopiski has been living in Russia since 1990s. After he had been granted Russia’s citizenship, Kopiski set up a farm in the regional town of Petushki.