While Phosagro, the majority owner of Apatit, has long expressed its interest in the stake, several other companies now also indicate that they might take part in the tender which is due June this year.
The Apatit company is based in the Kola Peninsula and is Russia’s by far biggest producer of fertilizers. It is currenlty controlled by Phosagro, a company owned by Andrei Guriev, the senator representing Murmansk Oblast.
Among the companies interested are Acron, Uralchem, Fleming Family & Partners, Renaissance Capital and Sberbank Investments, newspaper Kommersant reports.
Read also: Phosagro takes control over Apatit
The 20 percent stake of the Apatit company has a long history of scandal and political intrigues. The stake was in 1994 bought by Menatep, the bank owned and controlled by Yukos owner Mikhail Khodorkovsky. This deal became a centerpiece in the cases against Khodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev, which ended with long prison sentences for both men. According to the state prosecutors, the stake was acquired illegally at a price far below the market value. The stake was formally returned to the state in 2009.
