Minsk — OAO Uralkali CEO Vladislav Baumgertner remained in custody in the Belarusian KGB pre-trial detention center last week, charged with abuse of office as chairman of Belarusian Potash Co. (BPC). On Sept. 6, a Belarusian judge rejected the latest pleas for his release. This despite protests by both Uralkali and the Russian government, as well as a partial cut in Russia’s oil supply to Belarus, a suspension of Russian imports of Belarus pork products, and the threat of further trade actions. Baumgertner was detained Aug. 26 after being in the country to visit Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich (GM Sept. 2, p. 1). It follows Uralkali’s July 30 announcement that it would exit its export marketing partnership with BPC. Uralkali CFO Viktor Belyakov is acting CEO. In the meantime, the Belarusian government has re-established BPC as a public joint-stock company to coordinate Belarusian potash exports. Belaruskali, the Belarus state-owned potash producer, has said it would take scheduled maintenance turnarounds at some of its operations to help it find its bearings. This would reportedly impact two of four mines. There were also reports that Belarus has cut its potash export duty to zero for the rest of the year from the previous $100-$110/mt, and that Belarus was aggressively marketing its product.
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