Uralchem

In 2016, Uralchem increased production of marketable products by 3% compared to last year to record 6.06 million tons, the company reports.

VTB Bank with participation of Roseximbank and the Russian export credit agency Exsar has opened a credit line to Uralchem for $150 million, the credit institution reports.

In the first six months of 2016, Uralchem Group’s enterprises produced 3 million tons of commodity products, which corresponds to the same period of the previous year.

Onexim of Mikhail Prokhorov has sold 20% of Uralkali. Buyer, contrary to the market expectations, wasn’t Uralchem, which owns 20% of Uralkali, but Belarusian trader Dmitry Lobyak, who is familiar with owner of Uralchem Dmitry Mazepin. The market doesn’t rule out the possibility that the transaction may contribute to the restoration of relations with Minsk, ruptured in 2013.
Onexim has closed a deal on sale of 20% of Uralkali to a structure of the Belarusian businessman Dmitry Lobyak. The transaction amount isn’t disclosed, but a source of the Kommersant, familiar with the situation, notes that it was signed with a substantial premium to the market (the package price on the Moscow stock exchange is about $2 billion). The Mikhail Prokhorov’s purchase of the package in Uralkali was estimated at $4 billion in late 2013, then he bought 28.5% of the company, but sold some shares during buyback, reduced the stake to 20%. 19.9% more ​​of Uralkali belong to Uralchem, the remaining shares are quasi treasury ones.

The largest Russian producers of nitrogen and potash fertilizers Uralchem and Uralkali have asked the Government to cancel the increased tariff for export rail transportation. Allowance of 13.4% was introduced in late 2014 and was compensated for exporters with the weakening of the ruble. But since then, the price of fertilizers fell by 40-50%, while the share of transport costs in the expenditures increased significantly. It will be difficult for Russian Railways to refuse, because the monopoly has already made similar concessions to coal and ferrous metals producers.
As the Kommersant has got to know, on Friday, the producers of mineral fertilizers Uralkali (the largest shareholders are Uralchem and Onexim) and Uralchem (the main owner is Dmitry Mazepin) sent a letter to the Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich about railway tariffs. The companies ask the Government to cancel the additional indexation of Russian Railways in the amount of 13.4% on export rail transportation of fertilizers and ammonia. The chemical companies insist on the monopoly doesn’t require conservation in traffic at the level of 2015, since the demand for fertilizers is seriously reduced. As sources on the market reported to the Kommersant, a similar letter to the Government will by sent by the Russian Association of producers of mineral fertilizers this week. Russian Railways doesn’t comment on the situation.

"Uralkali" shares its export and domestic trading: two former top managers of "UralChem" will share function of the sales director Oleg Petrov, who has left the company.
On Thursday the Board of Directors of "Uralkaliy" adopted a decision to abolish the Directorate of sales and marketing, and the establishment of the Directorate of sales on the domestic market. It will be headed by Aleksey Strahov who until October was a commercial director of "UralChem".
Vladislav Lyan will be responsible for the export sales in Potash Company, who before moving to "Uralkali" held the position of the Deputy General Director of SIA Uralchem Trading (Riga), the foreign trader of "UralChem".

Moscow and Minsk again have a common potash project.
Two years after the breakup of "Uralkaliy" and "Belaruskaliy" the latter found a new Russian partner - Mikhail Gutseriev. He promises to invest about $ 1.7 billion in construction production of 2 million tons of fertilizers per year in Belarus. Minsk is ready to support the project, including a joint trading with "Belaruskaliy". However, additional capacities may be unclaimed on the background of the economic problems in major consuming countries.

The company filed a new lawsuit against "Fosagro".
UCC "Uralchem", the conflict of which with "Fosagro" group around deliveries of apatite concentrate has led to the stopping of  "Voskresensk mineral fertilizers" in 2014, is again trying to solve the problem in the courts. UCC has already agreed on the conditions which it refused before, but now "Fosagro" is not going to cooperate. As a result, plant again is on the verge of stopping, and lawyers believe attempts of "Uralchem" to solve the problem through the court are futile.
On July 7th "Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizers" (VMF) under control of "Uralchem" filed a suit in the Moscow Arbitration Court to "Apatit" and its main company "Fosagro", demanding it to sign a contract to supply about 450 thousand tons of apatite concentrate in 2016. VMF sent the corresponding offer in May, but "Fosagro" has not approved it. The structure of "Uralchem" proposes to set the price based on a formula agreed upon by the FAS in 2012. The first option - 70% of the concentrate on the basis of FOB North Africa plus 30% of the average prices for domestic consumers in the previous year adjusted to the index of industrial inflation. The second - 35% of the minimum export price, plus 35% of the price on FOB North Africa, plus 30% of the average domestic price. These formulas are valid until the end of 2016, after which the price should be calculated at the minimum export net of logistics costs and customs duties.

This year the company could pay shareholders more than 14 billion roubles.
On  the results of 2015 "Fosagro" may pay record dividends - more than 14 billion roubles. Until now, the other players in the market of mineral fertilizers refused to pay on the background of negative financial results and investment in capacity expansion. "Fosagro" refers to the growth in revenues from exports due to the devaluation of the rouble.
The Board of Directors of "Fosagro" recommended spending 7.3 billion roubles (57 roubles per share) the dividend from retained earnings of previous years, the company informs. Shareholders will decide on this in early October. In June "Fosagro" approved the payment of dividends in the amount of 6.2 billion roubles from retained earnings of previous years. Thus, in 2015 paid dividends could rise twice, reaching more than 14 billion against 7.7 billion roubles in 2014. In 2013 "Fosagro" has paid 4.5 billion roubles. The increase in payments to shareholders is related to changes in the dividend policy of the company. In April it decided to increase the payment of the net profit under IFRS from 20-40% to 30-50%.

Before the end of 2017, Gazprom Mezhregiongaz Perm LLC will supply to Uralchem OHC JSC gas for 16.712 billion rubles. The decision was admitted by the Board of Directors of Uralchem on January 27 2014. The sum of transaction is 28.4% of the cost of Uralchem assets by September 30 2013, i.e. 58.852 billion rubles.
Uralchem Group includes 4 plants for fertilizer production, 2 in the Perm region and by 1 plant in the Kirov region and the Moscow region. Uralchem holds 20% in Uralkaliy JSC, and 9.3% in Tolliattiazot. The holding is controlled by D. Mazepin.