EuroChem welcomes WTO ruling against Ukraine anti-dumping duties

Zug, Switzerland, September 16, 2019 – EuroChem Group AG, a leading global fertilizer company, today welcomed a ruling by the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body that anti-dumping duties levied by Ukraine on ammonium nitrate imports from Russia violate its rules. The ruling upholds an earlier WTO panel judgment from July 20, 2018 against Ukraine’s decision to introduce duties on imports of ammonium nitrate.

The ruling is a significant victory for EuroChem, which also has ammonium nitrate production facilities in Russia. According to the WTO, Ukrainian authorities should have exempted the company from the anti-dumping duties because it was not involved in dumping practices during the original period of investigation. The WTO Appellate Body confirmed that Ukraine had acted “inconsistently” by adopting anti-dumping duties on ammonium nitrate manufactured by EuroChem.

“We are happy that the WTO has confirmed its earlier panel judgment against these anti-dumping measures,” said EuroChem CEO Petter Ostbo. “We believe the measures were unjustified and unreasonable, and welcome the Appellate Body’s call for Ukraine to bring its measures in line with its international obligations.”

Background to the case

 The anti-dumping measures against ammonium nitrate imports from Russia were initially imposed by Ukraine in 2008 and subsequently amended and then extended after the conclusion of an interim and expiry review investigation in 2014. The Russian Government lodged the case with the World Trade Organization in 2015.

The WTO panel ruled that Ukraine had acted unlawfully by including EuroChem within the scope of the measures, despite rulings by its own courts that the company’s dumping margin in the original investigation period was de minimis. Furthermore, the panel found that a producer whose dumping margin was found to be de minimis cannot be subject to further expiry or interim reviews. As a result, the panel ruled that the Ukrainian authorities had acted in breach of Article 5.8 of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement by including EuroChem in the scope of the subsequent interim and expiry reviews and by imposing a 36.03% anti-dumping duty on the company.


About EuroChem Group AG

EuroChem is a leading global producer of nitrogen, phosphate and potash fertilizers, as well as certain industrial and mining products. The Group is vertically integrated with activities spanning mining to fertilizer production, logistics, and distribution. EuroChem began potash production at its Usolskiy mine in early 2018, and continues to develop  a second greenfield site at VolgaKaliy in Russia. Headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, the Group operates production facilities in Europe, Asia and the CIS, employing more than 26,000 people.

Media

Guy Dresser
Head of Communications
EuroChem Group AG
Guy.dresser@www.eurochemgroup.com

Russian Media

Vladimir Torin
Head of Public Relations
MCC EuroChem
vladimir.torin@www.eurochemgroup.com

Investors

Oxana Kovalenko
Head of Investor Relations
EuroChem Group AG
Oxana.kovalenko@www.eurochemgroup.com

Media Advisers

David Stürken
Communications adviser
Maitland/AMO
Eurochem-Maitlandamo@maitland.co.uk

Share this post
All announcements