Minsk would approach possible deal with Uralkali 'very carefully' - Belarusian PM
MOSCOW. Dec 20 (Interfax) - Belarus would approach a potential alliance with Russian potash miner Uralkali "very carefully," Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov told Reuters in an interview, the text of which was posted on the Belarusian government's website.
An alliance between Belarusian potash miner Belaruskali and Uralkali fell apart "through no fault of our own," Kobyakov said. "We were left on our own in 2013, but we found a solution and the enterprises are functioning normally, both the potash one and BPC [Belarusian Potash Company]. They have found their market niche, they are functioning, they don't depend on anybody," he said.
Alliances are "possible," Kobyakov said, but Belarus would approach any potential deal "very carefully," he said. "We don't want the situation that happened in 2013 to repeat itself," he said.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in the summer that Belarus was ready for an alliance with Uralkali, but on its own terms.
Uralkali and Belaruskali began selling potash on a 50/50 basis through Minsk-based BPC back in 2005. In July 2013, Uralkali announced that it was halting exports through BPC on the grounds that Belarusian potash deliveries had started to bypass BPC. The Russian company decided to sell via its own trader.
Subsequently, Uralkali's shareholders changed: Dmitry Mazepin's UralChem and Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim and their business associates bought a controlling stake in Uralkali from Suleyman Kerimov. This year, Onexim sold its stake in Uralkali to Dmitry Lobyak, an associate of Mazepin based in Belarus.