Mazepin might increase stake in Uralkali in future
MOSCOW. Oct 18 (Interfax) - The principal shareholder of Uralkali , Dmitry Mazepin does not rule out the possibility of increasing his stake in the Russian potash giant in future.
"There is always a desire. The main thing is for our desires to correspond to our abilities. At the moment our abilities do not correspond," Mazepin said in an interview with Rossiya 24 television when asked why his company, UralChem, had not purchased Onexim's stake in Uralkali.
Increasing the Uralkali stake would necessitate consultations with banks on possible financing. "We will have to decide with the banks when we are able to reduce the debt burden, when there will be money available for us to spend on issues other than production, to resolve issues at the shareholder level," he said.
Mazepin's UralChem now owns 19.99% of Uralkali and Mazepin's partner, Belarusian entrepreneur Dmitry Lobyak, holds 20% that was purchased from Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim Group earlier this year.
Just 5.61% of shares are in free float, while 54.4% are held as quasi-treasury stock.
