You're quite right--he was indeed a key figure in the 2000s. I left him out because he sold his stake in Uralkali in 2011 and since that time he has lived abroad and has played no part in the Russian fertilizer business.
Great piece, Thane. But you’re missing an account of the most interesting fertilizer oligarch of them all: Dmitrii Rybolovlev, who, with minor tweaks created a public company that increased in value well over 100x. He then tried to expatriate some of his wealth and eventually succumbed to Putin’s oprichniki.
Thanks, Thane. Good story that needed to be told. I'm under the impression that Putin has most directly linked the blockage of that pipeline with the Istanbul grain agreement, however, so I hope you will look further into that.
Ukraine was itself a major fertilizer producer, but Dmytro Firtash's Group DF wound up controlling most of the producers in Ukraine, and they have had a very checkered history (as well as some being shot up).
You're quite right--he was indeed a key figure in the 2000s. I left him out because he sold his stake in Uralkali in 2011 and since that time he has lived abroad and has played no part in the Russian fertilizer business.
Thanks for diving into this... it provides the kind of detail we need to truly understand the unintended consequences of sanctions!
Great piece, Thane. But you’re missing an account of the most interesting fertilizer oligarch of them all: Dmitrii Rybolovlev, who, with minor tweaks created a public company that increased in value well over 100x. He then tried to expatriate some of his wealth and eventually succumbed to Putin’s oprichniki.
Thanks, Thane. Good story that needed to be told. I'm under the impression that Putin has most directly linked the blockage of that pipeline with the Istanbul grain agreement, however, so I hope you will look further into that.
Ukraine was itself a major fertilizer producer, but Dmytro Firtash's Group DF wound up controlling most of the producers in Ukraine, and they have had a very checkered history (as well as some being shot up).