Crypto-Exchange at Hrodna Azot

A clumsy attempt to circumvent sanctions.

The Hrodna Azot plant, which fell under the sanctions, suddenly decided to introduce a cryptocurrency, writes Hrodna Chemist.

An operational meeting was held at the enterprise, and Dzmitry Haroshka, Deputy General Director for Economics and Finance, was instructed to "work out the issue of the possibility of making payments in cryptocurrency to build a modern digital economy at the enterprise."

It is known that the company fell under US sectoral sanctions.

Vadim Iosub, a Senior Analyst at Alpari Eurasia, commented for Hrodna.Life:

- Firstly, [decree # 8] refers specifically to enterprises that are HTP residents. Secondly, we are talking about the exchange of some cryptocurrencies for others, about the exchange of cryptocurrencies for "regular" currencies. That is, in fact, we are talking about the creation of crypto-exchange. Several companies really took advantage of this decree - there are several crypto-exchanges in the HTP. For the clients of the crypto-exchange, there is an opportunity to speculate, and, if they are lucky, then to make money, and, if they are not lucky, then to lose on the fluctuations in cryptocurrency rates. There is no question of paying for goods, receiving payment for their products, or paying workers' income.

Obviously, this is a clumsy attempt to circumvent the sanctions. The Europeans and the United States may impose sanctions, which will complicate payments in dollars and euros. They do not control payments in cryptocurrencies. But! To pay with crypto, counterparties (suppliers and buyers) must agree. And no one in the world will agree to this. Therefore, this is a naive and clumsy attempt. Like, look, we are discussing something to reduce the risks of sanctions. To no avail. This does not work under current legislation. For this to work, half of the legislation needs to be rewritten, starting with the Civil Code. Even if such a task is set, the work will take years.

The telegram channel of the Belarusian Workers' Association (BOR) also commented on the news about the introduction of cryptocurrency at Hrodna Azot: "They want to introduce payments with cryptocurrency at Hrodna Azot. Perhaps they will pay salaries with it."

Let us remind you that Hrodna Azot constantly gets into the news because of accidents.

November 2020: due to problems in the process of purification of converted gas, the syngas compressor in the Ammonia-4 workshop stopped, and the nitrogen-hydrogen mixture was discharged to the torch;

March 2021: due to blocking of incorrect operation of the technical air compressor, an unscheduled shutdown of the Ammonia-4 workshop and the technologically related Urea-4 workshop occurred;

April 2021: aggressive chemicals spilled into the oleum workshop during the discharge of liquid sulfur from the tank, part of the sulfur got onto the electric heating elements, causing smoke;

April 2021: due to a personnel error during scheduled maintenance, the equipment of the Ammonia-4 workshop stopped, the newspaper reported. Because of this, the work of the associated workshop "Urea-4" also stopped;

July 2021: unscheduled shutdown of the nitric acid and urea-ammonia mixture shop;

September 2021: converted gas leaked due to a crack in a piece of equipment.