Emerging market countries ready to pay for fertilizer in yuan - UralChem co-owner

MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax) - Emerging market countries are prepared to pay for imports of fertilizer from Russia in yuan in order to avoid problems with settlements in currencies that are "toxic" for Russian suppliers due to sanctions, the co-owner of fertilizer producer UralChem, Dmitry Mazepin said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

"There are three main issues - chartering vessels, insurance and payments. Because today banks are a huge obstacle - a little lawyer sitting at a bank can block any deals. We have recently already learned not to work with euros and dollars. We, for example, already sell fertilizer to Brazil with settlements in yuan," Mazepin said.

"We hope that at some point the BRICS countries will introduce their own currency or national currencies so that we could altogether use rubles. But, since right now the yuan has the greatest liquidity, developing countries are willing to pay in yuan and this makes [the situation] easier for us. Because the circulation of the euro and dollar is prohibited for us, although the companies are not under sanctions, the owners of these companies were under sanctions," Mazepin said.

He added that "all owners have already either exited the business [due to sanctions] or reduced their stake to a non-controlling one, like me."