Kerimov's Uralkali stake sale to ease Russia-Belarus tension Suleiman Kerimov, the Russian oligarch and largest shareholder of the world's largest potash miner Uralkali, has agreed to sell his 21.75 per cent stake to billionaire businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, in a move which is likely to calm tensions between Russia and Belarus. The transaction is understood to value the Russian group at about $20bn. Uralkali's shares, which had rallied last week on expectations of a sale agreement, jumped almost 2.6 per cent on hopes that the Russian group would restore relations with Belaruskali, its former partner in BPC, a legal export cartel for the key food nutrient. Uralkali dissolved the export cartel in July saying that its state-owned Belarussian partner was marketing its products outside the agreement. The announcement sent global potash prices plummeting, dealing a significant blow to Belarus, which relied on Belaruskali for 20 per cent of its annual budget. Tensions heightened further when Belarus authorities arrested Uralkali's chief executive Vladislav Baumgertner in Minsk after he entered to country on invitation from Belarus's prime minister to discuss the situation. Mr Baumgertner has since been under house arrest. Belarus president Alexander Lukashenko had been demanding Mr Kerimov sell his stake as a condition for relationship of the two former partners to return to normal. Mr Kerimov's partners, Filaret Galtchev who owns 7 per cent of Uralkali, and Anatoly Skurov who holds 4.8 per cent, are also expected to divest their stakes. Mr Prokhorov, who owns the US basketball team Brooklyn Nets and is also a Russian politician, invested through his company Onexim. Onexim said: "The purchase of the stake in Uralkali is a long-term investment in a company that is unique from the standpoint of its position in its industry and its role in the world economy." Despite the sale, Uralkali, which opted to increase production to recover its market share which it had lost earlier this year, is expected to continue its strategy for now. On the revival of the BPC export cartel, Paul Ostling, a non-executive director at Uralkali said there was no offer on the table from Belaruskali at the moment: "It's difficult to get Humpty Dumpty back together. We've created an omelette.