Russian billionaire says he flew to Africa because of EU sanctions

EuroChem founder Melnichenko flew to South Africa to convince local politicians to lobby for the lifting of sanctions that prevent the EXPORT of fertilizers from RUSSIA, BLOOMBERG learned.Melnichenko under sanctions since MarchAndrey MelnichenkoAndrey MelnichenkoAndrey MelnichenkoAndrey MelnichenkoAndrey Melnichenko

Russian businessman and founder of EuroChem Andrey Melnichenko (FORBES estimates his fortune at $27.4 billion) flew to South Africa to lobby for the lifting of sanctions on the sidelines of an election conference organized by the ruling African National Congress party, Bloomberg reports.

According to the agency, Melnichenko wants the most industrialized country on the continent to support his calls for the EU to "solve the problem of sanctions." According to his calculations, the fertilizer, which the market lost due to sanctions during the year, would allow growing enough grain to feed more than 200 million people.

“I don’t think that people suffering from lack of food should take sides in the conflict,” Melnichenko said in an interview with the agency. He declined to name the politicians he met in Johannesburg.

While the EU sanctions on Russia do not apply to agricultural products or fertilizers, restrictions on Russian businessmen have resulted in insurance companies, banks and logistics companies refusing to cooperate in arranging the supply of Russian products. According to Melnichenko, this year the supply of fertilizers has decreased by about 9 million tons.

Putin announced Russia's readiness to expand fertilizer exports Politics

Melnichenko was the beneficiary of a trust that controls Russia's largest coal company, SUEK, and fertilizer producer Eurochem. On March 8, the businessman resigned from this role, and his wife Alexandra automatically became the beneficiary. However, she does not control these two companies - they are controlled by the trust. This happened the day before personal EU sanctions were imposed on him.

The beneficiary of a discretionary (as in the case of Melnichenko) trust does not have control and ownership rights over the assets of the trust - the beneficiary only has the right to receive income from property managed by the trust - and only if the trust decides to pay income, a representative of Melnichenko told RBC.

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Western countries declare that there are no restrictions on the export of agricultural products from Russia, but at the same time, “hidden sanctions” against the Russian agricultural sector remain, said Dmitry Patrushev, HEAD of the Ministry of Agriculture, in an interview with RBC.

The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that European banks were "going too far" by refusing to participate in the trade in grain and fertilizers from Russia, which, he stressed, were not subject to sanctions. US President Joe Biden also spoke about the fact that Western sanctions do not prohibit the supply of Russian food and fertilizer .

Russia is negotiating the issue of exporting Russian fertilizers as part of the “grain deal” agreements, which involve Russia, Turkey and the UN as part of a grain deal. According to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, there are "significant achievements" in this direction. “And the UN people did a very good job, and our negotiators. That is, in this case, there are achievements, but there is still something to be done, ”Peskov said.