Russian recipients of genetic material from the foreign company Bayer will be exempted from paying royalties on the sale of varieties to be bred with this material. This was reported by the press service of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia.

It shall be reminded that this summer the "Made in Russia" project reported that Bayer still cannot transfer the germoplasm of agricultural plants to Russian agrarians in terms of technology transfer because of the absence of the necessary regulatory framework. The project was later told by the press service of the Federal Antimonopoly Service that there have been no such precedents in Russia in the past, and therefore there has been no need to develop the appropriate rules and regulations.

A Made in Russia correspondent also found out that the Russian breeding and seed company SOKO refused to sign a license agreement with Bayer, for example, because otherwise it would have been required to pay Bayer 3% of their sales for 15 years.

According to the RF Antimonopoly Service, Russian breeding companies will be fully exempt from royalty payments on sales of varieties and hybrids, which they derive from the obtained genetic material, except for cases when it will be used as a hybrid parent.

This decision was made after negotiations between Bayer, FAS and the Technology Transfer Centre of the Higher School of Economics.

This decision applies to all Russian recipients of germplasm that are or will be selected by the CTT as recipients and that will use Bayer's genetic material in the breeding process to create new varieties.

It is specified that enterprises from the Russian Federation will be able to use the germoplasm of the foreign company in the development of new varieties of wheat and soybeans. The genetic material will be transferred free of charge if it is used in the breeding process for creation of a parent line for corn and rapeseed.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service stressed that royalty will not be charged regardless of what happens to be the specific weight of germplasm in the bred varieties and hybrids.

As a reminder, Bayer reached an agreement in the fall of 2016 to purchase the American herbicide and seed manufacturer Monsanto for $66 billion. The Russian FAS approved this deal with the requirement to carry out technology transfer in Russia in the field of seed breeding and digital farming.

Two years ago, the Antimonopoly Service, the Higher School of Economics and Bayer opened a technology transfer centre to transfer these technologies to agricultural companies in Russia. In 2019, this center selected the first companies to receive germoplasm from Bayer.

Made in Russia // Made in Russia

Author: Ksenia Gustova