On the morning of February 24, immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine, Dmytro Mazepin, the former director general of “Uralchim”, suspended the transit of ammonia through the “Tolyatti-Odesa” pipeline,
KYIV. UkraineGate. 6. July . 2022 | World News .
Most of the ammonia produced in Russia is exported. Despite the fact that the main sales channel was the Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline, ammonia is also transported through Latvia, where it is stored in the Ventamonjaks terminal, the largest on the Baltic Sea. What is currently happening with Russian ammonia in European terminals .
Details
Ventamonjaks is located in the Latvian city of Ventspils , more than 50% of whose shares belong to Uralchem Freight Limited, which is related to Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin. The businessman fell under EU sanctions, due to which Ventamonjaks’ accounts were frozen and it was unable to pay for the storage services of 40,000 tons of liquid ammonia. According to the Latvian mass media, this ammonia disappeared from the warehouses in June , but where it went is not known for sure.
Quote
“Instead of being expropriated, Ventamonjaks was ordered to take the cargo out on its own, using exemptions due to sanctions, so that the export could be covered by funds frozen by the banks. However, whether this meant the actual sale of ammonia, a change of storage location or something else, and if there was a sale, what happened to the proceeds, this information was not disclosed – neither at the time of this decision, nor now, when ammonia is no longer in Ventspils port. , – says the Latvian publication TV.NET.LV.
Journalists of the publication sent requests to various authorities, but the Ventamonjaks company did not receive a response about the confiscated goods.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development of Latvia also refused an interview, the journalists emphasize.
They studied the ship’s waybill, which shows that one of the ammonia tankers that left Ventspils stopped in Malta and then entered the port of Tunisia, while the other was still in the Mediterranean at the beginning of June.
The question of whether this route opens a window for sanctioned companies to gain some leeway with a cargo currently in high demand in the market, or whether it could be the end of a deal that began before the sanctions, remains unanswered.
In addition to the enterprise in Ventspils, Mazepin is connected with another terminal – Riga Fertilizer Terminal .
There was ammonium nitrate in the port of Riga, which had to be removed from there by June 30. Potassium chloride and other less hazardous fertilizers must be removed by August 30. There is currently no information on cargo movement.
Another Russian oligarch, Arkady Rotenberg , who owns a large number of businesses, including the Mindobryva company, showed interest in the Ukrainian OPZ, more than 75% of the products of which were previously exported, half of which was delivered through the same Tolyatti-Odesa pipeline. . Previously, he planned to purchase the Odesa port plant to diversify investments.
Source: Ukrgate
