Belaruskali

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
JSC Belaruskali
819,589,000 (2018) Edit this on Wikidata
Number of employees
16,000
Websitewww.belaruskali.by

Belaruskali (Belarusian: Беларуськалій, Russian: Беларуськалий) is one of the largest state-owned companies of Belarus. It is one of the largest producers of potash fertilizers in the world, accounting for 20% global supply as of 2019.[1][2]

Belaruskali is the largest single taxpayer in Belarus[3] and an important source of foreign currency of the Belarusian government.[1] As of 2015, it accounted for 11% of tax revenues of Minsk Region.[4]

Most of Belaruskali's production is exported to China.[1][2]

History

The company was established in 1958 and comprises four production units, as well as auxiliary shops and service departments.[2] The Belarusian Potash Company is the main distributor of potash fertilizers produced by Belaruskali.[5][6]

Worker rights issues and political repressions

In 2020, four thousand workers of Belaruskali have declared a strike as part of mass peaceful nationwide protests that followed a controversial presidential election, demanding resignation of Alexander Lukashenko and new democratic elections.[7] There have been cases of miners cuffing themselves underground as part of the strike.[8]

According to reports, Belaruskali management threatened and put psychological pressure on the strikers.[9] Belaruskali paid extra bonuses to workers not participating in the strike.[10]

The Belarusian authorities arrested and imposed 15-day prison sentences on some of the striking workers at Belaruskali.[11][12] Four activists of the Belaruskali labour union - Siarhei Charkasau, Pavel Puchenia, Yury Korzun and Anatol Bokun - were arrested after the strike began. 49 Belaruskali workers were fired for participating in the strike, several had to flee from the country.[13][14]

The arrested activists were later released following an international solidarity campaign,

worker rights violations at Belaruskali.[16][17][10]

International sanctions

In 2020, Belaruskali became one of the centers of strikes after the

protesters.[18] On November 19, Belaruskali fired 49 striking workers, purportedly for absenteeism.[19]

On 24 June 2021, the

Raman Pratasevich and Sofia Sapega."[20]

On 9 August 2021, the

Lukashenka regime".[21]

On 2 December 2021, Belaruskali was added to the sanctions list of the United Kingdom,[24] while the Belarusian Potash Company was added to the SDN List by the United States Department of the Treasury.[25]

In 2022, Canada, the EU and Switzerland imposed sanctions against Belaruskali, its CEO Ivan Golovaty, and the Belarusian Potash Company.[26][27][28] In January 2023, the enterprise was included in the sanctions list of Ukraine.[29]

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c Мировые производители калия могут выиграть от снижения экспорта из Беларуси [World potash producers may benefit from decreasing exports from Belarus] - Fitch Ratings, 26 August 2020
  2. ^ a b c About company - Official website of Belaruskali
  3. Tut.by
    , 28 May 2020
  4. ^ ОАО «Беларуськалий» - лидер по налогам в Минской области Archived 2017-10-25 at the Wayback Machine [JSC Belaruskali is the tax leader of Minsk Region] - Lider-press, 25 March 2016
  5. ^ Belarusian Potash Company official website - About Us
  6. ^ О предприятии [About the company] - Belaruskali official website (in Russian)
  7. Tut.by
    , 19 August 2020
  8. ^ https://interfax.com/newsroom/top-stories/69832/ Belarusian miner cuffs himself to express protest - Interfax, 10 September 2020
  9. Tut.by
    , 18 August 2020
  10. ^
    Charter'97
    , 28 December 2020
  11. Radio Free Europe
    , 21 September 2020
  12. ^ Belarus: Govt. imposes prison sentences on striking workers at Belaruskali mining conglomerate - Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, 21 September 2020
  13. ^ Belarusian labour activists pressured as political crisis drags on - openDemocracy, 26 August 2020
  14. ^ "Беларуськалий" уволил почти 50 сотрудников за участие в стачках [Belaruskali fired almost 50 employees for participating in strikes] - Deutsche Welle, 20 November 2020
  15. ^ International solidarity leads to release of jailed union leaders in Belarus - IndustriALL Global Union, 3 November 2020
  16. ^ Belaruskali to reinstate fired workers after pressure from Yara - Reuters, 21 January 2021
  17. Charter'97
    , 18 November 2020
  18. ^ Алина Исаченко (2021-05-06). "Что происходит на предприятии "Беларуськалий" — основном поставщике валюты для Александра Лукашенко?" (in Russian). BBC News Russian. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  19. ^ ""Беларуськалій» звольніў 49 страйкоўцаў за «прагулы"". Nasha Niva (in Belarusian). 2020-11-19. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  20. ^ European Council official website, 24 June 2021
  21. ^ a b "Treasury Holds the Belarusian Regime to Account on Anniversary of Fraudulent Election". United States Department of the Treasury. 9 August 2021. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  22. ^ "US, Along With UK and Canada, Slaps More Sanctions on Belarus". Voice of America. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  23. ^ "UK, US and Canada impose fresh sanctions on Belarus". Politico. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  24. ^ "Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets in the UK" (PDF). Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation HM Treasury. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  25. ^ "Belarus Designations; Publication of Belarus Directive 1 and related Frequently Asked Questions; Issuance of Belarus General License 5". United States Department of the Treasury. 2 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  26. ^ "Regulations Amending the Special Economic Measures (Belarus) Regulations: SOR/2022-49". Canada Gazette. 2022-03-30. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
  27. ^ "Official Journal L 153/2022". EUR-Lex. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  28. ^ "Searching for subjects of sanctions". Staatssekretariat für Wirtschaft.
  29. National Agency for Prevention of Corruption
    .
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