OREANDA-NEWS. February 15, 2012. EuroChem announced today that it hosted a delegation of Finnish and Russian environmentalist at its Phosphorit facility on February 7. Representatives of HELCOM’s BALTHAZAR Project, SYKE, NEFCO, and the Ministries of Environment of Finland and Russia, accompanied by other Russian experts and authorities were invited to share and discuss facts and data collected by SYKE in late 2011 which point to an increase in the nutrient load of the Luga River.

All in attendance recognized the need for additional monitoring of the Luga River and the Verkhovsky Creek. The Northwest The Administration for Hydrometeorology Monitoring will be conducting weekly testing at five predetermined points, while EuroChem has offered to finance the monitoring of the Luga River water quality. Further action will be taken once the results are obtained.

During the visit, additional sampling was carried out at four points: the diffuse discharge of the plant, 50 meters upstream and 500 meters downstream the Luga River from the plant and the Verkhovsky Creek. The water samples will be analyzed by the Center for Laboratory Analysis and Technical Measurements, SYKE and the Phosphorit laboratory.

EuroChem is a top ten agrochemical company globally by nutrient capacity, producing primarily nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers, as well as certain organic synthesis products and iron ore.

EuroChem’s main manufacturing assets include the Nevinnomysskiy Azot, Novomoskovskiy Azot, Phosphorit, EuroChem – BMU, and Kovdorskiy GOK facilities in Russia and Lifosa in Lithuania. The Group is vertically integrated with activities spanning from mining to production, logistics, and distribution. EuroChem holds licenses to develop potash reserves in Russia which entitle it to an estimated fifth-largest volume of potash reserves globally.