OAO Uralkali Chief Executive Officer Vladislav Baumgertner was detained in Belarus. He was accused of abusing his authority after he had pulled out from the Russian-Belarussian venture. The world's biggest potash producer controlled more than 40% of exports in the said venture.

Baumgertner was suspected of abusing his powers as the chairman and a member of the supervisory board of Belarusian Potash Co. The latter was a result of the trading venture between Uralkali and Belaruskali in 2005. This was according to the spokesperson of Belarus' Investigative Committee. Pavel Traulko. The CEO would be imprisoned for 10 years once proven guilty.

Belarus also said that it had been seeking for four other Uralkali executives who allegedly plot a scheme to cut Belaruskali out of decision making authority at the venture. This caused damages and losses of around USD100 million. Last July 30, Uralkali said that it would quit the venture. The shares of potash producers had slumped after a drop in commodity price was forecasted.