OREANDA-NEWS. The move to exclude OAO Belaruskali (Soligorsk, Minsk Region) from Belarus' state-owned petrochemical industries concern Belneftekhim is intended to evade economic sanctions once imposed by the United States, a source in the Belarusian government told.

Belneftekhim currently faces US economic sanctions. Being affiliated with Belneftekhim, OAO Belaruskali is also affected by those sanctions, which result in significant economic losses for the Belarusian exporter of potassium chloride, the official said.

The problems emerge in the first place when OAO Belaruskali has to settle transactions in US dollars. “In order to give those sanctions a miss, they had to resort to multimove currency exchange transactions, which result in losses for the export company,” the official explained.

Originally, the US sanctions against Belneftekhim were introduced in November 2007 following human rights violations in Belarus. In March 2008 after Belarus' authorities would not release former presidential candidate Alexander Kozulin, the United States introduced sanctions against all companies affiliated with Belneftekhim.

In September 2008 the US Department of the Treasury mitigated economic sanctions against OAO Lakokraska and Polotsk Steklovolokno.

The state-owned Belarusian company OAO Belaruskali is one of the world's largest manufacturers of potash fertilizers, employing about 18,440 personnel. It operates the Starobinskoye potash salts deposit and comprises four mine groups, auxiliary shops and support units.

Belaruskali controls more than 16% of the world's potash fertilizer market. Belaruskali facilitates potash exports through OAO Belarusian Potash Company.