Uralkali CEO said to be still in KGB jail

Uralkali CEO Vladislav Baumgertner is said to be staying in Belarus.

Russian Consul Igor Karyagin told it BelaPAN.

"He is supposedly still held in the detention center of the KGB [Committee for State Security]," he said.

On Monday, the Russian embassy formally applied to the Belarusian foreign ministry for permission for its officers to meet with Mr. Baumgertner.

The ministry is required to give a reply to the embassy within three days. It had not replied to the application as of Tuesday afternoon.

Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika was staying in Minsk on September 24 to discuss the possible repatriation of Mr. Baumgertner to Russia, according to RIA Novosti.

The talks were expected to yield a final decision on whether the executive could be handed over to Russia, said the news agency.

Mr. Baumgertner was arrested on August 26 as he was about to fly out of Minsk after a meeting with Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich.

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. Minsk claims that the collapse of the Belarusian-Russian potash sales cartel has caused severe economic damage to Belarus.

On September 16, Russian Deputy Prosecutor General Aleksandr Zvyagintsev announced that the Investigative Committee of Belarus would hand over the investigation of the criminal case to the Russian Prosecutor General's Office.

Alyaksandr Lukashenka said on September 19 that Mr. Baumgertner might be extradited to Russia "for investigation."

The matter was discussed by Mr. Lukashenka and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this week.