OREANDA-NEWS. Belarus is almost through making preparations for an auction to choose a strategic investor for OAO Grodno Azot, the country's core producer of nitrogen fertilizers.

Chief of Belarus' State Property Committee Georgi Kuznetsov stated that at a press-conference.

Initially, Belarus expects investors to address three core matters: purchase a 25% stake plus one share and get another 25% on special terms; invest USD 400 in production upgrade at the existing company; build a new plant worth USD 1.2 billion at the present site. Another important condition is that the investor is supposed to abundant resources of raw materials and present a documentary proof, Kuznetsov said.

As previously reported with reference to a source in the Belarusian government, Russia's largest state-controlled oil company Rosneft could buy a stake in Belarusian fertilizer manufacturer Grodno Azot and negotiations on the matter were already underway.

In early September, Rosneft's CEO Igor Sechin held talks with CEO of Belarusian state-owned Belneftekhim, Igor Zhilin. They discussed the option of supplying natural gas to Grodno Azot instead of its current provider, Russian gas giant Gazprom.

Grodno Azot consumes about 2 billion cubic meters of gas annually.

OAO Grodno Azot is one of the five integration projects agreed by Russia and Belarus. Russia's EuroChem and Gazprom were previously mentioned among potential partners of Grodno Azot, which depends on supplies of imported natural gas and plans to build a new nitrogen plant worth USD 1 billion.

One of the principle conditions is that the investor is supposed to fully satisfy OAO Grodno Azot's demand for natural gas.

Russian fertilizer producer EuroChem is more successful in negotiations for the privatization of Belarus' Grodno Azot than gas giant Gazprom, Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov said in December 2013.

Grodno Azot was set up in 1963 and transformed into an open joint-stock company in 2002. The Belarusian government holds a 99.97% stake.

Grodno Azot is Belarus' main producer of liquid ammonia, nitrogen fertilizers, methanol, caprolactam, biodiesel fuel.