Lithuania's UHB purchasing 85% of NPK-fertilizer plant in Uzbekistan

VILNIUS. Dec 14 (Interfax/BNS) - Lithuanian fertilizer producer and exporter UHB Group is acquiring an 85% stake in the Samarkand-NPK nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) fertilizer plant in Uzbekistan, the group said in a statement.

UHB already acquired a 47% stake in the company in October, and plans to acquire the rest over the next year. The cost of the transaction was not disclosed.

The design capacity of the enterprise in Uzbekistan is 240,000 tonnes per year, which is twice the capacity of the Lithuanian enterprise.

Chairman of the Board of UHB, Kestutis Pakalnis said that the Samarkand NPK plant has been operating since 2016, but has been working at partial capacity up until now. "Since the enterprises of the UHB group have been successfully operating in Uzbekistan for several years, the management of the plant made us an offer to purchase it," Pakalnis said.

Earlier reports said that the Uzbek-Chinese joint venture Samarkand-NPK commissioned a plant in Uzbekistan in February 2016 for the production of nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium fertilizers at the Samarkandkime JSC (Samarkand Chemical) Plant worth $20 million.

JV Samarkand-NPK was created in mid-2015 by Samarkandkime JSC and the Chinese Jiangsu Right Machinery Group Co., Ltd. with parity participation.

The UHB Group website shows that its activities cover a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, chemicals, logistics and food processing. It specializes in the production of complex NPK fertilizers. Its main area of activity is the wholesale trade and supply of chemicals.

UHB exports 80% of its fertilizer and chemical products worldwide. Pakalnis owns 50% of UHB, while the remaining share is owned by a Pakalnis family company, the press release says.