VEB closes deal to sell Ammoni ammonium and nitrogen fertilizer plant to Trotsenko for $900 mln
MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) - VEB has closed a deal to sell 100% of the JSC Ammoni ammonia and nitrogen fertilizer plant in Tatarstan to Kemerovo Azot JSC, a division of Roman Trotsenko's SBU Azot, for $900 million, the state corporation said.
VEB said it had already received the money.
Ammoni was commissioned in 2015 in the city of Mendeleyevsk. The overall cost of the project, according to 2016 data, was $2.15 billion, with $1.8 billion provided by VEB. Due to the depreciation of the ruble and drop in nitrogen fertilizer prices compared to those factored into project parameters, the plant had been operating at a loss and could not service its debt.
VEB, the biggest creditor and once owner of 22.8% of Ammoni, was behind the process to bring an investor in. That process began in the spring and was organized by Gazprombank.
VEB agreed to sell the plant to Kemerovo Azot JSC in August 2019 in a deal that involved restructuring Ammoni's debt, making it solvent again and discharging it from bankruptcy proceedings. Kemerovo Azot should become the sole owner of Ammoni after its debt has been converted to equity.
An arbitration court in Tatarstan opened bankruptcy proceedings at Ammoni in December 2019, putting it under supervision following a petition by VEB as part of the plan to bring a profile investor in.
Ammoni's shareholders endorsed Dmitry Makarov, former deputy head responsible for development at Kemerovo Azot, as Ammoni's new general director on January 15.
Makarov and Mikhail Kuzovlev, first deputy head of VEB, signed an amicable agreement last week that paved the way for the sale to close.
Roman Trotsenko has said planned investment in Ammoni would be 15 billion rubles over a period of four years, including 5.2 billion rubles in 2020. He said he was interested in Ammoni because it "continues the product line of Kemerovo Azot and Angarsk Angarsk Nitrogen Fertilizer Plant." Both companies are part of the SDS Azot group.
