Yara acquires stake in Russian fertilizer plant

In a further move to expand its global operations, Yara entered into a partnership with the Russian fertilizer producer, OAO Minudobreniya ("Rossosh").

The agreement included a 30 percent stock acquisition by Yara, technology transfer and the integration of Rossosh into Yara's planning and marketing operations.  Yara secured exclusive marketing and distribution rights for fertilizer from Rossosh and gained access to competitively priced energy and other raw materials.

The partnership agreement and acquisition of shares in Rossosh reinforced Yara's market leadership in the fertilizer industry. It was an important step in strengthening the company's global position in balanced fertilization and its market position in key Asian countries including China, Thailand and Indonesia.

The Rossosh plant was based on nitro-phosphate technology licensed from Yara in the early 1980s and had a total production of approximately 900,000 tonnes of NPK, 800,000 tonnes of ammonia and 450,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate (AN). Half of the ammonia production is upgraded to NPK and AN.

As part of the agreement Yara was able to secure technology transfer to upgrade the NPK plant to match the high quality standards of its other plants.

The contract also called for the Rossosh plant to be fully integrated into Yara’s product planning and fertilizer marketing system.  Yara also planned to coordinate production schedules and logistics for export of NPKs from Yuzhny in the Black Sea. It was agreed that the existing management would continue to operate the plant and handle all domestic sales and logistics.