A Russian company is going to build a chemical plant in the UAE, but local banks do not want to work with it
The plant has been under discussion for a year, but it hasn't gone beyond talks
The Russian concern EuroChem is negotiating the construction of an ammonia and urea plant in the UAE, sources told Forbes. However, the project has stalled as local banks refuse to cooperate with the company founded by sanctioned Russian businessman Andrei Melnichenko, one investment banker said.
"They [EuroChem] have problems with local banks, no one is working with them, so they wanted to buy a bank in Mauritius," he said.
According to a source close to Melnychenko, the creation of the plant "has been discussed for a year," but "it has not progressed beyond preliminary consultations with the authorities."
"Everything is at the very initial stage. <...> The idea of a bank in Mauritius is fresher, but there are no practical results there either," he said.
Melnichenko is the richest businessman in Russia: in 2023, he was ranked No. 1 in the Forbes rating. Over the year, his fortune more than doubled to $25.2 billion.
"EuroChem is Russia's largest fertilizer producer with pre-war sales of 27 million tons.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Melnichenko was subject to EU sanctions. On the eve of the restrictions, he left the board of directors of EuroChem and another company he founded, SUEK, and ceased to be their beneficiary.
His share in the trust was automatically transferred to his wife Aleksandra, a citizen of Serbia and Croatia. In June, Aleksandra was also blacklisted by the European Union. Melnichenko and his wife are currently appealing the sanctions in court. The US, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have also imposed restrictions on the businessman.
Recently, the billionaire gave an interview to the Financial Times, in which he complained that the sanctions had made him an "outcast": for the past 14 years, he had lived mainly in Switzerland, but was forced to move to the UAE, whose citizenship he received in 2021.
In May, the Swiss authorities raised the issue of revoking the residence permit of the businessman and his family.
Background. As reported, Ursula von der Leyen will negotiate with the UAE authorities to stop helping Russia.
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