The owner of the Safmar Group, Russian billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev, spoke about the nationalization of his enterprise Slavkaliy in Belarus. It was engaged in the construction of the Nezhin Mining and Processing Plant (GOK) and invested $500 million in the project. According to Gutseriev, the money has not yet been returned to him.

“After the American sanctions on potash, on Slavkali, I was forced to kind of leave it, stop construction completely. All the financial resources that we invested… Our share there is half a billion dollars. All this froze. It is unknown when it will return,” the businessman said in an interview with Forbes.

Speaking about the current status of the project, Gutseriev replied that “it all goes to the Belarusian state.” As for the return of funds, according to the billionaire, “it’s a matter of negotiations.” “So far, I haven’t received any money back. That’s it. My money is kind of stuck, it’s gone,” he noted. At the same time, Gutseriev added that this “happens,” and he doesn’t see “anything terrible” in it.

The China Development Bank also participated in the project — its investments amounted to $1 billion, but after the US sanctions, the financing was stopped, the businessman said.  In 2022, the state enterprise Nedra Nezhin was created in Belarus, which became the legal successor of Slavkali. It was assumed that the financing would be carried out partially at the expense of the republican budget, but the bulk of the funds would remain credit.

Gutseriev added that he does not know who will develop the project now and how, but it does not matter to him anymore. “I have lost interest in this project. We have drilled two shafts: one 800, one 600 meters. We have made three-kilometer tunnels there. We have almost reached 70% of the solution to the problem. We have built a mining and processing plant… We have even bought furniture for the administrative buildings. We were supposed to finish it this year,” Gutseriev said.

The Belarusian government claims that  the Nezhin Mining and Processing Plant is not yet ready for launch. In the spring of 2023, First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Snopkov said that the plant should be commissioned on June 1, 2025. At that time, the overall readiness of the facility was estimated at 39%.  The Nezhin  Mining and Processing Plant will become the second enterprise for the production of potash fertilizers in the country; currently, only the state-owned Belaruskali produces them. The plant’s capacity will be up to 2 million tons of potassium chloride per year.

Gutseriev was sanctioned by the EU and  the UK  in 2021 following protests in Belarus that erupted after the Central Election Commission declared Alexander Lukashenko president despite widespread evidence of election fraud.  European authorities have called the Russian billionaire a “long-time friend” of Lukashenko and a businessman who “benefits” from his regime. The  UK government has also said that Gutseriev is “one of the main private investors in Belarus.” Forbes estimates his wealth at $3.7 billion.

After the sanctions were imposed, Gutseriev transferred control over Slavkaliy’s shareholder, the British GCM Global Energy, to his brother Sait-Salam.  In July 2022, Kazakhstani citizen Salman Gutseriev became the company’s main owner.

(C)THE MOSCOW TIMES 2024