MINSK, November 25. /ITAR-TASS/. The Belarusian Potash Company (BPC) has fully recovered after withdrawal of Russian potash producer Uralkali from a joint venture with the Belarusian partner Belaruskali and effectively works on its own, the BPC first deputy CEO Alexander Polyakov said in a statement on Monday.
He said with confidence that the company was finishing the transition period it lived through after breaking up its relations with Uralkali. Then many key traders left the Belarus Potash Company that had to create a new team and restore its traders network.
The BPC deputy director-general, Konstantin Deduk, supported him. “We are gathering pace,” he said. “In October the BPC fulfilled its supply plans and marketed over 400,000 tonnes of potash fertilizers, what exceeds the last year’s sales volume of Belaruskali.”
Sales volume this October proved better “than over the same period last year, when we worked with our Russian partners,” Deduk said.
The BPC said its new top managers had coped with keeping effective its exports map, although some markets tried to close their doors for Belarus.
At present, the Belarus Potash Company practically fully restored its share on the market and next year it hoped to expand the list of countries to export its potash.
Of late the BPC has resumed its potash exports to India and a share of Belarusian potash fertilizers increased on the market of Myanmar several times. The company plans to enter top three of the main potash suppliers to the Brazilian market.
“The company has developed a new management approach,” a BPC official said. “We do not use any more the approach when all information is concentrated in hands of one or two traders making decisions. Now we have teamwork.”
As concerns possible resumption of cooperation between the Belarus Potash Company and Russia’s Uralkali, the BPC authorities prefer to refrain from making any forecasts. “For the market an agreement between the Belarusian and Russian sides is positive and being even awaited. We are ready for this, not closed,” Polyakov said.
At the same time he pointed to positive changes on the Russian market following the change of Uralkali’s shareholder. Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group agreed to buy Suleiman Kerimov’s stake in Uralkali.
“We hope that Uralkali will change its attitude to the market and consumers and will adjust its price-making policy,” he said.