Tag: Russia

Ukrainian drones struck a chemical plant at Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast, on 13 April, with videos circulating on social media platform Telegram...

The European Commission (EC) officially proposed to suspend, for one year, the most favoured nation (MFN) duties on imports of several key nitrogen-containing fertilizers and inputs for their production, including ammonia and urea, officials said 24 February. The tariff suspension will be implemented for all countries, except Russia and Belarus, through duty-free tariff rate quotas, the Commission noted. Imports beyond these quotas will be subject to standard MFN duties, it added.

A Ukrainian drone attack hit the Dorogobuzh nitrogen fertilizer plant, around 140 km east of the border with Belarus in the western Smolensk region, according to local press reports. At least seven people were killed and another 10 injured, according to Russian authorities. It appears that the nitric acid and ammonium nitrate plants were targeted, as well as facilities involved in the storage and transportation of ammonium nitrate, leading to extensive damage. The strike is part of an ongoing campaign by Ukraine against Russia’s oil, gas and chemical facilities.

At the end of December, the Russian government extended its ban on the export of technical sulphur until at least the end of March 2026. The move prolongs the initial restrictions, which were first reported on 4 November and which were set to expire at the end of 2025. The initial ban was widely expected and followed early September drone strikes on the Astrakhan and Orenburg natural-gas plants. The official justification for the extension remains to “stabilise shipments of raw materials to the domestic market” and maintain production volumes for mineral fertilizers, according to the government’s press service Interfax.

The start of the new year has shown that 2026 is already proving to be a very eventful one, beginning with the US abduction of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro, which has prompted questions over production at the country’s ailing nitrogen assets, as well as the potential for a future boost to gas supplies to Trinidad. Meanwhile the Iranian government faces its most sustained public challenge since the 1979 revolution, and possible US military intervention, threatening continued exports from the country. In Europe, the future of fertilizers’ inclusion in the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) has been thrown into doubt barely a week after the new regulations came into force, as France and Italy pushed for an exemption for crop nutrient imports.

Maire Group says that, in relation to its ongoing dispute with Russian EuroChem Group, its subsidiary Tecnimont has obtained immediately enforceable orders for conservatory measures to freeze assets of EuroChem Group for an amount of approximately €1.1 billion. These measures are based on the leave granted to Tecnimont by the ICC Arbitral Tribunal seated in London, to seize EuroChem’s assets in every country, totalling €1.1 billion. Further seizure requests are underway in several jurisdictions. The Arbitral Tribunal has also found that Tecnimont is entitled to apply to judicial authorities to obtain asset freeze measures against EuroChem Group’s assets worldwide, by way of security for the further potential damages caused by EuroChem Group’s recent unlawful legal actions undertaken in Russia.

Acron’s fertilizer complex at Veliky Novgorod was reported to be on fire following a Ukrainian drone strike on December 10th. At least five explosions were reported at the facility, according to Ukrainian media. Novgorod Governor Alexander Dronov confirmed the attack and said the air defence system intercepted 19 drones over the region. Earlier, on December 4, Ukrainian drones struck the Nevinnomyssk Azot plant in Russia’s Stavropol region, a major facility that produces over 1 million t/a of ammonia and 1.4 million t/a of ammonium nitrate annually.

Uralchem JSC and three Indian fertiliser companies; Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd (RCF), National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL), and Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) have signed a memorandum of understanding to set up a joint venture to construct a urea plant in Russia. The signing ceremony was held in New Delhi in December during a state visit by Russian president Vladimir Putin to India.

Potash and phosphate have been added to the updated 2025 List of Critical Minerals published in the US Federal Register on 6th November.

Ukraine has mounted several strikes on the Russian Black Sea port of Tuapse, hitting oil infrastructure with airborne and seagoing drones and missiles. Tuapse is a tanker loading terminal, one of two main oil export facilities on Russia’s Black Sea coast, with the capacity to transship around 17 million t/a of oil products. A raid on November 2nd reportedly damaged two tankers, halted fuel exports and refinery operations for days, caused an oil spill and forced tankers to abandon the port. Russia’s national rail company has halted rail shipments to Tuapse port, citing insufficient train car handling capacity.