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19 Sep 2013

London, Moscow stock exchanges to learn about Uralkali’s real financial state

MINSK, 19 September (BelTA) – Instructions have been given to inform the London stock exchange and the Moscow stock exchange about the real financial state of Uralkali. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko made the statement at the government session held on 19 September to discuss current economic and foreign policy matters. Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Alexander Zvyagintsev had been invited to attend the session, BelTA has learned.

According to Alexander Lukashenko, the potash scandal had been arranged for the sake of covering up Uralkali's own problems. “You and I often wondered why the seemingly successful enterprise Uralkali and our ones had to be brought low? Their own quotes and profits tumbled. I cannot but conclude that the outward success of Uralkali's owners covered most serious problems. From all appearances they had been managing to cover up the problems by shuffling financial reports. In essence they had been borrowing more and more. And Uralkali’s manufacturing side is one large problem: mines are flooded, the town is sagging, they have to resettle people,” noted the President.

“The cheaters definitely couldn’t keep their heads above the water. I’ve seen reports that they have a deficit of $12 billion and a surplus of only $2 billion. If it is so, it turns out that the information they have distributed across the world is nothing but lies. Uralkali is a public company, which shares are traded at the London and Moscow exchanges. The distribution of false reports and information by such a company represents a case of international fraud,” remarked the Belarusian leader.

The head of state underlined that in accordance with any laws either Belarusian or Russian or Western ones, it is a crime. As an example he referred to the scandal regarding the USA energy giant Enron. Investors were swindled out of colossal sums back then. “So it was more and more difficult for Uralkali owners to hide their problems. And it seems that these stock exchange schemers tried to solve their problems at the expense of Belaruskali. They wanted to plunder the Belarusian enterprise, raise their own capitalization and resolve all the problems in one go,” noted the Belarusian leader.

The head of state reminded about attempts to bribe the Belarusian side into selling Belaruskali at half the price. “We acted very roughly in that situation and the practice was scrapped. Then they plunged the market for the same goal – to bring Belaruskali down to its knees,” said Alexander Lukashenko.

The Belarus President is convinced that the scandal had been designed as a kind of a smokescreen. “There was no other way out. Because sooner or later, I drew your attention to the London stock exchange, they would have had to present reports and the real state of affairs at the enterprise would have been examined. And the enterprise is bankrupt and I dare anyone to challenge this statement,” said the head of state.

Alexander Lukashenko said that he had instructed relevant agencies to contact the London stock exchange and the Moscow stock exchange to notify them about what is going on. “Whether they want to verify reports or not, it is up to them to decide, but it seems to me that after receiving this information, the London stock exchange will be shocked,” said the President.

“Because the smokescreen was needed to bring down the market, to hide their own problems, which in essence had emerged a long time before that. It may have been the central goal of the scheme,” concluded the head of state.

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