Fertilizer manufacturer EuroChem in Antwerp has received permission from administrators to partially resume production. Until recently, the company was co-owned by Russian oligarch Andrei Melnichenko, against whom sanctions have been imposed in the EU.
The bank assets of the global chemical group have been frozen, and the Antwerp branch has applied for protection against creditors. The partial resumption of fertilizer production will last until a final solution is reached, and should only be used to pay the salaries of the approximately 400 employees.
EuroChem produces approximately 2 million tons of fertilizer per year in Antwerp. EuroChem is one of the five largest fertilizer producers in the world with a turnover of 5.48 billion euros. It has offices in Russia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Lithuania, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, China and the United States. It operates with more than 27,000 employees in 100 countries.
The company reported last month that Melnichenko had retired as director and largest shareholder. CEO Vladimir Rashevskiy has also withdrawn. Many Russian oligarchs are trying to escape the EU sanctions with their companies through legal tricks.
Russia's Ministry of Trade and Industry last month, in response to the EU sanctions, recommended that the country's fertilizer producers stop exports. In practice, such a 'recommendation' means an export ban, ordered by the Kremlin. There are other countries that produce and export fertilizers, but they are considerably more expensive.
Belarus – a major supplier of potassium to the European Union, South America and the United States – has also shut down fertilizer exports because it no longer has access to the (Baltic Sea) port of Klaipeda in northern neighboring Lithuania.