OREANDA-NEWS. On 02 June 2009 was announced, that the Belarusian side is prepared to consider proposals from the Russian mineral and chemical company “EuroChem” regarding enlargement of the production base of the Belarusian chemical industry, said President Alexander Lukashenko on 26 May as he met with Andrei Melnichenko, Chairman of the Board of Directors at EuroChem.

‘I want us to discuss frankly all proposals from EuroChem and to identify our future cooperation avenues,’ said the Head of State.

EuroChem is the biggest producer of mineral fertilisers in Russia, one of the three biggest in Europe and ten biggest in the world. EuroChem has been assigned a ‘BB’ rating, which means a low risk of default and the company’s ability to meet its financial obligations.

Three companies of the Belarusian chemical industry have been quite successful both at home and abroad, said the President. ‘We can produce nitrogen, phosphorous, potash fertilisers. We plan a large-scale modernisation of these companies,’ said Alexander Lukashenko. The modernisation should proceed faster; Belarus invests heavily in this, according to him.

Addressing the Russian investor, the President said that the type of business he was involved in was widely practiced in Belarus too.

Mr Melnichenko said Belarus was a very promising market for his company. The significance of the Belarusian market is very big, he said, because agriculture is well developed in Belarus and hence there is a big demand for mineral fertilisers. Last year EuroChem supplied USD 200 million worth of products to Belarus, he added.