( Kommersant ) - Evrokhim wants to build a nitrogen fertilizer plant in Venezuela with a capacity of over 1 million tons per year. Considering the possibility under new legislation that the agro-chemical industry in Venezuela may be nationalized, and the special status of Russian companies in that country, Evrokhim may be positioning itself to receive new resources this way. The project is on the list of potential joint ventures compiled at the recent Russian-Venezuelan Business Forum, and Acting Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov has mentioned a possible plant of that type to be constructed in the town of Jose.
Evrokhim is Russia's largest producer of mineral fertilizer at about 6 million tons per year. Its receipts in 2006 came to $1.964 billion, with $257 million in net profit. Ninety-five percent of its stock belongs to Russian businessman Andrey Melnichenko, who took over of chairman of the board of the company in June of this year. Since then, the company has announced several new projects, which analysts interpret as preparations for an IPO.
No partner for Evrokhim has been chosen in Venezuela yet. The main producer of mineral fertilizer in that country is Petroquimica de Venezuela, a subsidiary of Petroleos de Venezuela. It owns four large petrochemical facilities, three of which have the capacity to produce fertilizer. The company is looking for a partner to build a second plant in Jose, where it owns 34.99 percent of existent FertiNitro plant there, in partnership with foreign investors.