Belarusian Potash Co ready to restore coop with Russia’s Uralkali

MOSCOW, Nov 25 (PRIME) -- Belarusian Potash Company is ready to restore its cooperation with Russian fertilizer producer Uralkali after Onexim Group, controlled by Mikhail Prokhorov, signed an agreement to buy a 33.6% stake in Uralkali from Suleiman Kerimov and his partners, Deputy CEO Alexander Polyakov said on Monday, RIA Novosti reported.

“The accord between the Belarusian and Russian parties is positive for the market. Investors were even waiting for it, and we are ready, we are not closed,” Polyakov said.

The conflict between Uralkali and Belaruskali led to the breakup of their joint venture (JV) in July after Uralkali accused its Belarusian partner of undermining sales. It was aggravated in August by the arrest of Uralkali’s CEO Vladislav Baumgertner. Uralkali’s co-owner Suleiman Kerimov was also accused under the Baumgertner case and the Belarusian government asked Interpol to put him on its international most wanted list.

“We hope that Uralkali will change its attitude to the market, to consumers…we hope that it will correct the pricing policy,” he said.

Belarusian Potash Company will not cut prices just in order to raise sales, Polyakov said. “We do not support the idea of selling maximum volumes at minimal prices and of stripping the producers of income despite the fact it is easy to sell vast amounts at borderline low prices these days,” he said.

Deputy CEO Konstantin Deduk said that the company managed to restore its sales on all the markets after the JV’s breakup.

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