Last weekend, events in Belarus made international headlines again.
A passenger flight was diverted and forced to land in Minsk on May 23, so that the Belarus regime could arrest a political opponent.
Norway Today has closely followed the situation in Belarus – which includes the business collaboration between Norway’s Yara International and Belarus’s Belaruskali.
Yara is in part state-owned and its partner Belaruskali is fully owned by the Belarus regime, which continuously commits human rights violations according to international authorities.
Norway’s Yara International responds
In a statement to Norway Today on May 28, a Yara International spokesperson said:
“In line with the international community, Yara strongly condemns the events that took place in Minsk over the weekend.
“We are assessing this new situation and its implications.
“We are in close dialogue with a number of stakeholders, including the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Our main concern remains the safety, health, and well-being of the workers of Belaruskali.”
Yara’s part-owner, Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries, responds
In a statement to Norway Today on May 28, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries said:
“Yara International ASA is a company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The Norwegian State, represented by The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries, is one of the shareholders with an ownership stake of 36.2%.
“The state exercises its ownership in accordance with the division of roles and responsibilities between the owner, the board of directors, and the management as defined in company law, and based on generally recognized principles and standards for corporate governance. The state pays special attention to distinguishing between its role as an owner and its other roles and responsibilities. This, and other principles relevant for the state when exercising its ownership, are described in the white paper “The state’s direct ownership of companies – sustainable value creation”. The Yara Board of Directors and the management are responsible for managing Yara’s involvement in Belarus.
“The Norwegian State as an owner expects all companies in which the state has an ownership stake to have a responsible business conduct and to work to protect human and labor rights in their own business and supply chains.
“The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Fisheries is in dialogue with the company on this and other matters. Yara also keeps a close dialogue with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the current situation.”
Norway’s reaction to the arrest of Protasevich and Sapega
“Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapega, who were arrested on Sunday after the passenger flight they were on was diverted and forced to land in Belarus, must be released immediately.
“The same applies to more than 400 other political dissidents who are imprisoned in Belarus,” Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ine Eriksen Søreide said in a press conference on Wednesday.
Source: #Norway Today, #NorwayTodayNews
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They and the other Belarus political dissidents should be released to the West.
This was way too extreme. Putin has just had a talk with Lukashenko, presumably about this. We’ll see if there are any developments. If not, The Iron Curtain is back, full force.
Yara is now really ridicoulous,and the government “talks” are just as ridicolous.
The company is doint the opposite of wha tthey preach on their ethics website,
from their Business Partner Code of Conduct ( https://www.yara.com/this-is-yara/ethics-and-compliance/policies/code-of-conduct-for-business-partners/):
1.Respect for People, Human Rights and Appropriate Working Conditions
The government is not an example of coeherence either.
#YaraEuropeanShame #BelarusProtests