Self-proclaimed Donetsk republic to "nationalize" farms of Akhmetov, Novinsky

DPR leader Zakharchenko is going to seize assets of Akhmetov and Novinsky / Image from harveast.com

"Novoazovsk, all the companies incorporated in HarvEast – these are large cattle breeding and dairy farms – should be brought under 'state' control. Providing [the population] with meat and milk is a top priority of the' state,'" Zakharchenko said during a live TV phone-in with residents living in occupied areas in Donetsk region.

In 2011, Ukraine's largest holding SCM and its partner in the mining and metals business, Smart Holding, created HarvEast Group agricultural holding with a land bank of over 200,000 hectares.

HarvEast's core business is crop and dairy farming.

CJSC SCM is wholly owned by Rinat Akhmetov. Vadym Novinsky is the major beneficiary of Smart Holding.