FAS ADVISORY COUNCIL APPROVED THE FIRST RECIPIENTS OF BAYER TECHNOLOGY

“Bayer” will transfer around 70 pure lines for 4 crops – maize, soya, wheat and rape

The Advisory Council for control over the Technology Transfer Centre 1 approved 7 Russian companies, involved in selection and seed production, as end-recipients of genetic material (germplasm), transferred under the frame of FAS order issued upon the results of considering a transaction for “Bayer AG” acquiring “Monsanto Company”.

Transferring germplasm is one of the elements of technological transfer that “Bayer AG” should execute fulfilling its obligations specified in the FAS order, which include transferring genetic materials and molecular selection means, establishing a research-and-training centre for plant biotechnology, and providing access to historic data in digital farming.

The Technology Transfer Centre selects germplasm recipients in accord with the Regulations for selecting potential recipients of technology transfer, approved by the Advisory Council.

Head of FAS Department for Control over Agro-Industrial Complex, Anna Mirochinenko, pointed out: “Recipients include both incumbents – for example, “Kuban’ Seed Production” Research and Production Association” Ltd.,”Pavlovskaya Niva Agrofirm” CJSC, and very young innovative companies that are able to present interesting selection programmes, sought-after by the market”.

Overall, around 70 pure lines for 4 cultures will be transferred – 20 maize lines, 10 lines of non-genetically modified soya lines, 10 lines of winter soft wheat and 10 lines of spring soft wheat, 10 lines of spring oilseed rape and 10 lines of winter oilseed rape.

Genetic material will be transferred on the basis of licenses concluded between the recipients and “Bayer AG”, according to which royalty will be paid to the company with a significant discount relative to the market values and only after commercializing the selection products developed with use of the transferred genetic materials.

Summing up the outcome of the Advisory Council, Deputy Head of FAS Andrey Tsyganov said: “Large amount of organizational and information work undertaken by FAS and the Technology Transfer Centre preceded selection of germplasm recipients. This is our first experience when a FAS order includes technology transfer – transfer of data and knowledge, and when a third party is involved in the transfer. We had to build up the entire mechanism from scratch and we are ready to translate it to other mergers”.

¹ The Technology Transfer Centre is formed on the basis of Higher School of Economics - National Research University to monitor execution of the FAS order with regard to a petition filed by “Bayer AG” (Germany) to approve acquiring over 50% of the voting shares of “Monsanto Company” (the US).

The tasks of the Technology Transfer Centre include, in particular, selection of potential recipients of germplasm and molecular selection means necessary to create new cultivars and hybrids for crops important for Russian agriculture such as soya, maize, rape and wheat.

According to the FAS order, control over the Technology Transfer Centre is exercised by the Advisory Council, comprising representatives of FAS, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

² Pure line - progeny of a single selfplant. If a cultivar has 95% identical genotypes, it can be considered a pure line.