Tel Aviv — A compromise agreement has been reached with Israel’s Tourism and Environmental Protection Ministries that will allow for the implementation of the agreement between the state and Israel Chemicals Ltd. (ICL). Under the terms of the agreement, the Finance Ministry has agreed to allocate $250 million over the next five years for rehabilitation of the Dead Sea. The Tourism and Environmental Protection Ministers had been demanding that a special fund from Dead Sea Works royalties be set up to cover the cost of rehabilitating and investing in tourism infrastructure. The Finance Ministry was opposed to the establishment of a special fund from the royalties, but agreed to allocate funds to both ministries. The agreement represents the last hurdle prior to the agreement approved by the government with ICL on the removal or “harvesting” of salt and a new royalities regime. Under the terms of the agreement the company will cover 80 percent of the cost of harvesting the salt from the Dead Sea’s southern basin in order to prevent the flooding of nearby hotels. In addition, royalty payments are to be increased from 5 to 10 percent. The cost of the operation is estimated at over $1.3 billion. Environmental groups are still opposed to the agreement and are planning to fight it in court.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain