The company GMC Global Energy plc (Great Britain and Northern Ireland) will invest $1.5 billion in the construction of a new potash factory in Belarus. The announcement was made by prominent Russian businessman Mikhail Gutseriyev as he met with Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich in Minsk on 5 October, BelTA has learned.

The new enterprise is tentatively named Slavkali or Slavyansky Kali (Slavonic potassium), said Mikhail Gutseriyev.

The businessman thanked the Prime Minister of Belarus for what had been done in the previous 12 months to prepare the project. “The project is complicated and requires huge investments,” said Mikhail Gutseriyev. In his words, the contract involves interests of many people in the future and will fruitfully influence the Belarusian economy.

The investments will be at least $1.5 billion. Extra $250 million will be allocated and invested in the Belarusian economy before the mine and the factory are built, said Mikhail Gutseriyev. So the company plans to invest at least $1.750 billion.

In addition, the company plans to set up 1,500 jobs at the future factory and another 400-500 jobs in addition to that.

The company plans to start channeling investments in a month. The first transfer will be $32 million, the second one $50 million. The money will be spent on project documentation. Mikhail Gutseriyev believes there is no need to wait for the start time to begin investments. “We don’t think we should wait. We should do it before 2015,” he said. The businessman stressed that Belarusians will account for 70% of the workforce that will be involved in building the facility. Mikhail Gutseriyev believes the director general and the management of the company should be of the Belarusian origin, too. Modern Western technologies should be used. “It will be one of the world’s most advanced enterprises. Specialists will be trained here, too, but certainly the Belarusians will take care of managing the company,” he said.

Mikhail Gutseriyev told the Prime Minister of Belarus: “We are not strangers. We’ve been in Belarus for 12 years. We love you a lot”. The owner of the company GMC Global Energy plc believes that Belarus’ investment climate is as good as that in other countries.

Mikhail Gutseriyev also said that the new company’s potassium will be sold only via Belarusian Potash Company. “If they refuse to do so, we will be able to sell products on our own,” said Mikhail Gutseriyev. All these conditions are stipulated by the contract. The businessman stressed that Belarus’ subsurface assets are reliably protected. If any issues arise, they will be resolved via the court system, the way it is done in the rest of the world. However, Mikhail Gutseriyev is convinced that disputes will not reach that stage. In his words, “We have done a good document. Everyone can sleep peacefully. We just have to accomplish what it stipulates”. Mikhail Gutseriyev also believes that extracting 1.1 million tonnes of potassium per annum is just the start. If there is a demand, the company will be able to rack up the output. In his words, the project can make Belarus the world’s primary source of potassium.


Belta