Producer
Uralkali
Russia's largest potash producer; ~17% of global supply. Five mines and seven ore-treatment mills in Berezniki and Solikamsk (Perm Krai). NOT under Western sanctions (unlike Belaruskali) — continues to export to China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, and the EU despite Russia-Ukraine war. Controlled by oligarch Dmitry Mazepin (under personal sanctions). Berezniki mines produce ~10% of world's potash but the city is being swallowed by sinkholes from 2006 mine flooding — a structural geological risk. Russian potash exports rose 30%+ in 2024 reaching ~10M MT.
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Inputs supplied
3
Goods downstream
3
Facilities
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Stories
What they make
3 inputs Uralkali supplies
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Goods downstream
Essential goods that depend on something Uralkali makes — pick one to see the full supply chain.
Where they make it
3 facilities
Uralkali Berezniki Mines — Perm Krai, Russia →
RUBerezniki, Perm Krai · mine
Three of Uralkali's five mines are in Berezniki. In 2006, Berezniki-1 mine was flooded by a freshwater spring intrusion, causing the world's largest man-made sinkhole (the 'Grandfather': 340 yards wide, 50 stories deep). The city of Berezniki (pop. ~130,000) is being relocated as additional sinkholes appear. Berezniki area produces ~10% of world's potash. The geological risk of mine flooding remains active.
Uralkali Solikamsk Mines — Perm Krai, Russia →
RUSolikamsk, Perm Krai · mine
Two of Uralkali's five mines are in Solikamsk, ~25km north of Berezniki. Solikamsk-2 mine is one of Russia's deepest potash mines. Combined Berezniki+Solikamsk operations represent ~17% of global potash production.
Uralkali – Berezniki Mines (Perm Krai) →
RUPerm Krai
Uralkali's main mining complex at Berezniki; ~12 Mt/yr MOP capacity across multiple shafts; notable: BKPRU-1 mine had major flooding incident (2007-2010) requiring evacuation of part of Berezniki city; Perm Krai region contains ~17% of world's potash reserves
What else they do
Business segments
The company's full revenue map — where this supply-chain role fits within their broader business.
Potash Mining (Perm Krai)
85%Potash Processing & Trading
15%
Intelligence
What's known
Sourced claims about this company's role in supply chains — chokepoints, concentration, incidents, dual-use connections.
Incident2024
In 2006-2010, Uralkali's BKPRU-1 mine in Berezniki, Russia suffered a major flood from groundwater intrusion, eventually causing a sinkhole that required evacuating 1,000+ residents of Berezniki city. The event damaged one of Uralkali's four mine shafts. In 2014, a second sinkhole appeared. These events illustrate the geological risk inherent in Perm Krai potash mining — one of the world's most important but also most flood-prone potash basins.
Mining Technology ↗Chokepoint2014
Uralkali's mines in Berezniki, Perm Krai sit beneath a city of 150,000 people -- and since 2006, when an underground mine flooding event created a sinkhole in the middle of Berezniki, the city has been literally sinking. The initial sinkhole was 200 meters wide; subsequent subsidence has forced evacuation of entire city blocks, relocation of railway infrastructure, and emergency geological monitoring of the ground beneath residential neighborhoods. Despite this, Berezniki mines continue operating because Perm Krai's economy depends on potash, Russia's government needs the export revenue, and global agriculture needs the potash for fertilizer. Russian authorities have evacuated an estimated 10,000+ residents from danger zones while the mine expansion below continues. The Berezniki situation is the most extreme case of industrial extraction threatening inhabited urban infrastructure in current operation -- a literal ongoing geological emergency treated as a normal cost of doing business.
The Guardian ↗Did you know2024
Uralkali exports potash directly to India, China, Brazil, and Southeast Asia despite its controlling shareholder Dmitry Mazepin being under personal Western sanctions and despite Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine. Most Russian commodity exports face Western sanctions but potash is exempt because Western governments recognized that sanctioning Russian potash would trigger a global food price crisis -- the same grain-growing regions of Brazil, India, and Southeast Asia that depend on potash fertilizer for food production would face dramatically higher food prices. Western governments effectively decided that global food security outweighs the financial pressure that potash sanctions would apply on Russia. This exception -- a sanction carve-out explicitly for food -- means that a sanctioned Russian oligarch continues conducting large-scale international commerce with nominal opposition, and Russian potash revenues partially offset the economic pressure of other sanctions.
Reuters ↗