Łukašenka backs potash sales bill – deputy premier

July 18, BPN. Alaksandar Łukašenka has backed a bill on the sale of potash fertilizers amid sanctions, First Deputy Prime Minister Mikałaj Snapkoŭ has told reporters in Minsk.

It would help the exporter Belarusian Potash Company to get bank loans for advance payments to Belaruskali, the state-owned potash miner, he said.

“This is the only way to secure a stable cash flow to our producer now,” he said, as quoted by SB. Belarus Segodnya. “Because there are payment problems relating to sanctions.”

The volume of Belarusian cargoes shipped at Russian ports hiked by 400 percent year-on-year in the first six months, he said. “These are mostly (97 percent) chemical mineral fertilizers, oil and oil products,” he said.

Belaruskali is one of the world’s largest producers of potash, a fertilizer widely used in agriculture.

The United States and the European Union have sanctioned it in response to human rights violations and political repression in the country.