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Russian diplomats allowed to meet with Uralkali CEO

The Investigative Committee of Belarus has agreed in principle to allow officers of the Russian embassy to meet with Uralkali CEO Vladislav Baumgertner, Consul Igor Karyagin told BelaPAN on Wednesday.

“Earlier today, we received a reply to our new application for permission to meet with Baumgertner,” Mr. Karyagin said. “We’d like to hold the meeting as soon as possible, and we’re discussing the date with the Investigative Committee. We’re expected to set the date by the end of the day.”

The Investigative Committee did not reply to the embassy’s first application, filed on October 31.

In an interview given to BelaPAN on Tuesday, Mr. Karyagin said that Russian consular officers wanted to have a meeting with Mr. Baumgertner on their own initiative to ask routine questions about health, his living conditions and so on.

Vladislav Baumgertner was arrested on August 26 as he was about to fly out of Minsk after a meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich. He spent a month in the detention center of the Committee for State Security (KGB) before being released and placed under house arrest.

The Investigative Committee of Belarus said after the arrest that Mr. Baumgertner, who chaired the supervisory board of Belarusian Potash Company (BPC), was suspected of abuse of office and so were four other Russian executives who combined their duties in BPC and Russia's potash company Uralkali.

A few days later, Belarusian authorities instituted criminal proceedings against Russian billionaire and Uralkali's top shareholder Suleiman Kerimov.

The case is linked to Uralkali's July 30 decision to de facto quit BPC, its joint trading arm with Belarusian potash giant Belaruskali. Belarusian investigators said in August that "criminal" actions by Mr. Baumgertner and other Uralkali managers had caused Belarus up to $100 million in damage. The Investigative Committee warned later that the amount of the damage could be revised upward.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka said in October that the charge against Mr. Baumgertner had been changed from abuse of office to embezzlement.

Mr. Lukashenka warned on October 21 that Mr. Baumgertner would be extradited to Russia only if Uralkali compensated Belarus for the damage allegedly caused by the executive`s actions.

"Until we get more damage, let them compensate for this amount," he told CIS media leaders in Minsk. "If they compensate us for the damage, we will make some moves to hand over Baumgertner, who is loved by you and the Russian people [to Russia]."