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Uralkali CEO Baumgertner moved to house arrest in Moscow

Vladislav Baumgertner has been moved from a detention center in Moscow to house arrest, Sergei Tsyagankov, spokesman for the Russian Federal Corrections Service, announced on Tuesday, BelaPAN said.

“A monitoring device – an electronic bracelet – has been used with regard to Baumgertner,” Mr. Tsygankov said, according to RIA Novosti.

“Taking into account the personality of the accused and the restrictive measures earlier chosen by a Belarusian court, the Basmanny District Court in Moscow granted the request by investigators for changing the measure of restraint for Baumgertner from detention to house arrest,” said Valdimir Markin, spokesman for the Investigative Committee of Russia.

According to him, Mr. Baumgertner will be under house arrest in his Moscow home.

The 41-year-old Baumgertner was arrested in Belarus on August 26 when he was about to leave Minsk after arriving and meeting with Mikhail Myasnikovich at the invitation of the Belarusian prime minister. He spent a month in a KGB detention center before being placed under house arrest in an apartment in Minsk.

The Investigative Committee of Belarus said that Mr. Baumgertner was suspected of abuse of office and so were four other Russian executives who combined their duties in BPC and Uralkali.

The case is linked to Uralkali's July 30 decision to quit Belarusian Potash Company, its joint trading arm with Belarusian potash giant Belaruskali, a move that triggered a drop in world potash prices, which infuriated Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

Mr. Baumgertner was extradited to Russia on November 21 after Russian authorities met the Belarusian leader's demand for him to be detained and investigated in Russia.

Uralkali said in a statement on Tuesday that it was not aware of any reason to change its view that Mr. Baumgertner was innocent.