According to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday, world's biggest nickel producer Norilsk Nickel could be interested in acquire a 21.75% in Uralkali, a potash company in Russia. Citing an anonymous financial markets source, Reuters also said that Norilsk could be one of the many potential buyers of the billionaire Suleiman Kerimov-helmed company.

Norilski has been added in the list of potential bidders, and most were from unsourced reports by financial media people in Moscow. The list now included oil investor Mikhail Gutseriev, banker Vladimir Kogan, telecoms-to-retail billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov and former judo partner of President Vladimir Putin and construction tycoon Arkady Rotenberg.

The market bourse saw Uralkali stocks rally from the speculation after its disappointing 19% drop from its recent severance from  a joint venture with Belarus.
When asked for an immediate comment about the matter, Norilski declined to provide a word. People who were mentioned as potential bidders for Uralkali were either unavailable or had also declined to comment.