Binningen, Switzerland -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/05/2015 -- Ameropa, a Switzerland based grains and fertilizer company, who holds a minority stake in the Russian fertilizer company Togliatti Azot has filed a claim with the Government of the Russian Federation for damages caused to their investments by a series violations of Russian and international law.

The claim comes in reaction to actions undertaken by Uralchem, a Cyprus based fertilizer company owned by Dmitry Mazepin, who wants to acquire a majority stake in Togliatti Azot. Uralchem filed various criminal complaints against Togliatti Azot, its management and its majority shareholders, but also against Ameropa and their leadership team.

Although the criminal complaints have no support under Russian law and deliberate false statements have been made by the plaintiff, the courts did ignore evidence presented by the defendants. Independent reports were not allowed in court, plaintiffs did not present any reliable proof of the alleged damage. Although called a "victim" by Uralchem, Togliatti Azot itself has denied any damage caused to it. However, Togliatti Azot assets have been frozen and shares of Togliatti Azot have been arrested, along with assets and shares of other companies who have neither been accused nor involved in any transactions with Togliatti Azot.

Andreas Zivy, Chairman of the Board of Ameropa: "It seems that Uralchem is putting pressure on us in order to force us to sell our minority stake to them. Their claims are without merit, but so far, our strong evidence has not been taken into account by the court. Instead our assets have been frozen and arrest warrants have been presented to our leadership team. For us as foreign investors in Russia, this means that we are completely deprived from substantial protection of investment in this country."

Andreas Zivy continued: "In order to protect our investments and to avoid the massive personal restrictions for accused shareholders we have filed a claim under the Swiss-Russian Bilateral Treaty for damages caused to our investments by a series violations of Russian and international laws. We hope that this will finally result in a fair and equitable treatment of our case. "

About Ameropa
Founded in 1948, Ameropa is a Swiss, privately owned international agri-business. The company produces, originates and markets fertilisers and grains. Ameropa's headquarters are in Binningen, Switzerland, near the city of Basel. Ameropa has regional offices on all five continents and invests globally in assets supporting its business activities.

Contact:
Andreas Zivy
Ameropa
Phone: +41 61 307 50 11
E-mail: andreas.zivy@ameropa.com
http://www.ameropa.com/