Valery Kustov, the founder of the EFKO group, might also leave Russia after the Fuel For Growth fund relocates to the UAE.
The EFKO Group of Companies has announced the relocation of its Fuel For Growth venture capital fund to the UAE. The fund is known for investing in projects such as unmanned aerial vehicles, fuel cells, and alternative products like vegetable-based meat and milk. It seems that EFKO is interested in producing alternative food products in the Emirates.
The EFKO Group has had mixed results in Russia, as previously reported.
Primarily Manipulative
Kommersant reported that the headquarters of the Fuel For Growth fund will be moved to the UAE, which is likely a personal decision of Valery Kustov, based on the principles of the EFKO group. These principles were detailed in Forbes in 2006.
In the early 2000s, Valery Kustov encountered challenges in organizing production in his hometown of Alekseevka, Belgorod Region. To improve team management, he studied psychology, philosophy, and sociology.
Valery Kustov
According to Forbes, Kustov sent a team of Moscow specialists, led by psychology professor Nikolai Konyukhov, to work with the villagers. The experts identified weaknesses that could be exploited to motivate the workers to benefit Kustov.
However, the workers did not prioritize personal enrichment, and instead were greatly influenced by societal opinions. Kustov then tried to play into this mentality by allowing the villagers to manage the land rent fund, but this had limited impact on production. Despite this, Kustov applied this experience to manipulate workers' consciousness within the EFKO group.
Kustov used the characteristic feature of the villagers' mentality by allowing them to distribute the land rent fund within their community. Despite limited impact on production, Kustov applied this experience to motivate and manipulate workers within the EFKO group.
Army of 'biorobots'
Valery Kustov, from the EFKO Group of Companies, has decided to implement new management principles. He wants employees to prioritize the well-being of the company over personal gain, which ultimately means increasing his own wealth.
Professor Konyukhov, who previously studied the habits of villagers, is now the deputy general director of the EFKO company and Kustov’s right-hand man. As per Kustov and Konyukhov’s suggestion, the EFKO personnel service is now filled with specialists in psychocorrection and psychophysiology, who are graduates of specialized universities. This seems to signal the start of influencing the opinions of the EFKO group's staff. With about 7,500 employees, Valery Kustov has essentially created a well-controlled army.
The reference to an army in this case is not accidental. Forbes reports that job candidates undergo psychodiagnostics before training at the Liman training center, located 10 km from Alekseyevka, for a month. During this time, they follow a strict schedule, attend psychology lectures, and learn about corporate culture.
While it might sound like ordinary military training, the firsthand experiences of those who have undergone this regimen raise more concerns.
An anonymous former employee told Forbes, "At EFKO, management methods are sometimes overly harsh. The company is driven by a 'cult of personalities' and a natural fear of superiors. On one hand, there is intense pressure, constant surveillance, and reporting. On the other hand, you always know what you're doing and why," If one were to describe the happenings in the EFKO group with a single word or phrase, it wouldn't be wrong to use the word 'sect' or the more specific term 'totalitarian sect'.
According to Life, Valery Kustov himself states that he selects people with a depressive reaction as managers. This suggests that individuals who are struggling in life, broken, and in inner pain are more likely to embrace the specific corporate culture of the EFKO group and adapt quickly.
Dangerous palm tree
The founder of the EFKO Group, Valeriy Kustov, is known for being a major advocate of imported palm oil in Russia. Life points out that the EFKO group is likely a leader in palm oil processing. Additionally, the EFKO group possesses a sea terminal on Taman in the Krasnodar Territory, through which palm oil is imported to Russia. This location also houses an EFKO group plant for processing palm oil.
Terminal of the EFKO Group for transshipment of palm oil (Taman, Krasnodar Territory).
According to the authors of the Versiya publication, in 2017 the Krasnodar Regional Court suspended the activities of Food Ingredients LLC (one of the structures of the EFKO group) transshipping palm oil through the port of Taman due to violation of environmental legislation. At the same time, up to 60% of the total volume of palm oil imported to Russia can pass through this terminal on Taman. An on-site inspection by the Department of the Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources in the Southern Federal District revealed numerous violations in the work of an enterprise of the EFKO group. Allegedly, the revealed violations cost the positions held by a number of officials of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation and a number of other structures.
Meanwhile, it’s no secret that the consequences of constantly eating palm oil can be the most unpredictable. So, Life believes that the growth in consumption of palm oil in Russia and the growth in the number of oncological diseases are interconnected. For example, to remove the red color and neutralize the specific smell of palm oil, it is heated to 200 degrees, which allegedly leads to the formation of toxic glycidyl ethers – GE, which, according to a report by the European Food Safety Authority, can provoke the development of oncology.
Thus, the emergence of the EFKO Group in the UAE is a rather controversial event. There are even suggestions that, perhaps, after the opening of the headquarters of his foundation for permanent residence, Valery Kustov himself will move to this country.
It is also worth remembering that the UAE authorities have created various systems to protect the health of the population in the country. The standard of living in the Emirates (for example, in the emirate of Dubai) attracts many foreign citizens, including wealthy Russians. In this regard, the activities in the territory of this state of an organization associated with the processing of such a dubious product as palm oil, as well as practicing rather ambiguous forms of personnel management, can damage the reputation of the UAE leadership.
