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Belarusian potash giant acquires 30-percent stake in Lithuanian seaport’s terminal

Salihorsk-based potash giant AAT Belaruskali has acquired a 30-percent stake in the dry bulk cargo terminal of Lithuania’s Klaipeda seaport for $30 million, Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich told reporters in Klaipeda on April 18.

Mr. Myasnikovich is scheduled to participate in the 9th Belarusian-Lithuanian Economic Forum in the city in western Lithuania on Thursday.

“This is a very large terminal,” he said. “I believe that this $30-million investment is good investment.”

According to Mr. Myasnikovich, Belarus invested more than €70 million in the Lithuanian economy in 2012. This year, the country has already made its first-ever investment in the Klaipeda seaport, he said.

As a transit country, Belarus is implementing a rather ambitious program of developing trade and logistics centers, Mr. Myasnikovich said. He said that the Klaipeda seaport would allow the country to make the transportation of its cargoes more centralized.

Belarus currently accounts for one in every three tons of cargoes shipped through the port, and this share can become much larger, Mr. Myasnikovich said. //BelaPAN