Andrey Krivosheyev: January and February have set records in terms of geography and volumes of supply. Contracts with China and Indonesia raised the interest of Russian producers. The new owners of Russian Uralkaly Company have officially invited Belarus to join their cartel. Alexander Lukashenko responded that such company can be created in case its headquarters are based in Minsk and the national interests of Belarus are secured. Sudden withdrawal of Uralkaly from the alliance and its damping policy affected not only the interests of Belarus, but also of the world producers from the USA, Canada, Germany and Israel. The market, which has fell by 20 billions is recovering only now.
Bob Lang, stock exchange, analyst (the USA): The mishmash of the last year made anxious both producers and the clients. The declaration of Uralkaly that the prices are going to fall by 25% shocked everybody. And they really almost bottomed out. But in the beginning of the year the prices started growing, which made the work of the world producers more profitable.
It took Belarus half a year to recover its positions. In fact, it had to build a new trade network. There is a substantial investment program going on in the potash industry, which provided for 25% growth. Pripyat field is already being developed. The head of the state ordered to step up the efforts of the embassies in search for new markets. The direct trade links and wide geography has already paid off in such industries as engineering, agricultural sector and high technologies. The requirement of the President is to fix success in the Belarusian red gold business.













