Belarus and Russia's potash producer Uralkali have no plans so far to restore their export alliance, Russia's newspaper Kommersant reported with reference to a meeting held by Alena Kudravets, director general of AAT Belarusian Potash Company, and Uralkali CEO Dmitry Osipov on January 31.
The paper noted that the executives had discussed Uralkali's possible formal exit from ZAT Belarusian Potash Company, a joint export arm of the Russian producer and Salihorsk-based potash giant Belaruskali that has been de facto defunct since Uralkali announced its decision to sell its products through its own trader last summer. AAT Belarusian Potash Company is a separate company set up by the Belarusian government in the wake of the Russian company's move for the purpose of exporting exclusively Belaruskali's products.
The sources noted that Uralkali and Belaruskali had no plans to resume exporting their products through ZAT Belarusian Potash Company. "If the companies manage to work together again, it will be done through a new trader with a different shareholding ratio," one of the sources was quoted as saying. He explained that while Uralkali's output was almost twice as high as Belaruskali's, the shares of Russian and Belarusian potash in ZAT Belarusian Potash Company's sales had been equal.
Uralkali announced its decision to quit ZAT Belarusian Potash Company, in which it held a 50-percent stake, on July 30, 2013. The collapse of the sales cartel angered the Belarusian authorities which accused Uralkali's executives of abuse of power and arrested the Russian company's then director general, Vladislav Baumgertner.
