Tag Archives: fertilisers

EBRD funds Georgia’s fertiliser maker

JULY 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD said it is about to unlock a $155m loan to Georgia’s fertiliser producer Rustavi Azot. The loan will be part of a $175m funding programme to modernise its production line and reduce the factory’s emissions. RustaviAzot, located 25km south of Tbilisi, employs around 2,000 workers and has an output capacity of up to 220,000 tonnes of ammonia per year. In March, the plant faced closure for failing to pay its gas bill.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 288, published on July 8 2016)

Lukashenko visits Turkmenistan

DEC. 10 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko flew into Ashgabat for talks with Turkmen president Kurbanguly Berymukhamedov on how to develop bilateral relations next year. Belarusian companies are involved in mining and fertiliser production in Turkmenistan. Mr Lukashenko was returning from Vietnam.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 260, published on Dec. 11 2015)

Uzbekistan says it wants foreign investment

NOV. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s government said it wanted foreign investors to buy stakes in state-owned enterprises, part of a privatisation plan it said was designed to bring expertise into some of its biggest companies.

Deputy PM Rustam Azimov made the statement at an investment forum in Tashkent.

“[The plan is] to attract strategic investors who are able to bring new technology and equipment (and) organise the production of modern and competitive products,” Reuters quoted Mr Azimov as saying.

He cherry-picked three companies, seemingly as a teaser to pique foreign investor interest. These were cement maker Kizilkumcement, chemical producer Ferganaazot and electronics plant Foton.

For foreign investors, though, Uzbekistan has always been a complicated to do business in. It holds a high level of natural resources, mainly gold, gas and cotton, but is riddled through with corruption and intrigue. Western companies have previously had their assets taken by the Uzbek state too.

It remains to be seen if Uzbekistan is serious about opening up to foreign investors — and also whether these investors are Western, Korean, Chinese, Russia or from elsewhere.

The Uzbek government does need to raise funds though to deal with the current economic malaise.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 256, published on Nov. 13 2015)

China to invest in Kazakh potash

DEC. 14 2014, (The Conway Bulletin) — China agreed to invest $3.8b into developing Kazakhstan’s potash deposits to produce a mineral that can be used in fertiliser production. The massive investment both underscores China’s interest in Kazakhstan and will also help Kazakhstan diversify its economy away from oil and gas.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)

Firtash appeal dashed in Tajikistan

SEPT. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – An appeal court in Tajikistan upheld the decision of Tajikistan’s High Court to invalidate a takeover by Ukrainian billionaire Dmitro Firtash in 2002 of Tajik fertiliser maker TajikAzot. Analysts have said that the authorities in Tajikistan have used the problems in the country as a cover for a corporate raid.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 199, published on Sept. 10 2014)

Tajikistan wants Ukrainian oligarch’s assets

MARCH 14 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ukrainian industrial magnate Dmitri Firtash, one of Ukraine’s richest people, is having a rough time.

Four days after Austrian police arrested Mr Firtash on various criminal charges, Tajikistan’s anti-corruption agency launched an investigation into a 2002 deal involving his Cyprus-based Khairok Holdings Company.

The deal saw Khairok Holdings buy a 75% stake in Tajik Azot, a factory that produces carbamide as a fertiliser.

The timing of the Tajik investigation is suspect. Languishing in an Austrian jail makes it difficult for Mr Firtash to defend his Tajik business.

And the outlook for Mr Firtash’s control of Tajik Azot does not look good. Officials at the anti-corruption agency noted that Zayd Saydov was minister of industry when the deal was signed. Saydov is not a favourite of the authorities. He is a rival to Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon and was jailed in December for 26 years for corruption, polygamy and sex with a minor.

At full capacity Tajik Azot, based 117km from Dushanbe, exported international standard Carbamide to countries across the former Soviet Union, employing over 800 people.

Since 2008, production at the plant has plummeted due to high prices of natural gas from Uzbekistan. Nevertheless as Tajikistan seeks to develop its own hydrocarbons sector the facility may assume a strategic role in the national economy once more. A nice asset to grab while you can.

(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)

Russian fertiliser starts business in Kazakhstan

OCT. 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s EuroChem, one of the world’s largest fertiliser companies, said it had begun phosphate mining in southern Kazakhstan. EuroChem is controlled by Russian businessman Andrei Melnichenko who is considered to be close to the Kremlin. EuroChem operations are expected to create hundreds of jobs.

(News report from Issue No. 158, published on Oct. 30 2013)

Uzbekistan to export fertiliser to China

OCT. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan is negotiating a deal to export 100,000 tonnes of fertiliser to China every year, Russian news agency RIA-Novosti reported. Three years ago Uzbekistan built a potash fertiliser plant with 200,000 tonnes of annual capacity. It wants to increase capacity at the plant.

(News report from Issue No. 155, published on Oct. 9 2013)

New fertiliser plant to be built in Kazakhstan

SEPT. 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — As part of a joint Kazakh-Chinese investment programme, construction will begin on a new potash fertiliser plant in western Kazakhstan, Kazakh deputy industry minister Nurlan Sauranbayev said. Mr Sauranbayev said the initial cost of the plant would be about $1b.

(News report from Issue No. 152, published on Sept. 18 2013)