Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara International ASA
Yara International ASA is a Norwegian chemical company. It produces, distributes, and sells nitrogen-based mineral fertilizers and related industrial products. Its product line also includes phosphate and potash-based mineral fertilizers, as well as complex and specialty mineral fertilizer products.[3][4][5]
The company was established in 1905 as Norsk Hydro — the world's first producer of mineral nitrogen fertilizers — and de-merged as Yara International ASA on March 25, 2004.[6] Yara is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and has its headquarters in Oslo. The company has more than 17,000 employees, production sites on six continents, operations in more than 60 countries and sales to about 150 countries.[7]
The Norwegian government owns more than a third of Yara and is its largest shareholder.[8]
The company used Norway's large hydroelectric-energy resources to produce its first product.[14] Between 1906 and 1919 Norsk Hydro built two hydroelectric power plants in Notodden and Rjukan.[15] The company sent its first shipment to China in 1913.
1960–1977
Following the successful production of mineral fertilizer, the company expanded into other businesses such as oil and metals. In 1969, Norsk Hydro entered into its first joint venture, with authorities in Qatar. With access to a competitive source of gas and a strategic location in the Middle East, the joint venture opened up a global market for the company.
Norsk Hydro was led by Johan Berthin Holte as CEO from 1967 until 1977.[16] By the 1970s, the company was established in Asia, the Middle East and North America. The late 1970s to the mid-1980s was a period of rapid growth, through the acquisition of major fertilizer companies in France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. At the end of the 1990s, the company was also established in Brazil and South Africa.
2004–2008
In 2004, Hydro Agri de-merged from Norsk Hydro and became an independent company called Yara International ASA. The company was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange on March 25, 2004 and is a leading producer of ammonia, nitrates, nitrogen products, and NPK specialty fertilizers.[17] Since then, Yara has continued to expand its global presence through investments in other countries, with many acquisitions, joint ventures, and new projects, primarily in Africa and North and South America.
In July 2006 Yara paid $126 million for a controlling share in Fertibras. This acquisition gave Yara more than 99% of the voting stock in Fertibras[18] and 15% of Fosfertil, the largest producer in Brazil of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers.[18]
2008–2014
In 2008, Thorleif Enger retired, and Jørgen Ole Haslestad[no] became CEO. On his appointment, Haslestad stated: "Yara must continue its growth strategy. The company has many exciting opportunities to pursue, for instance when it comes to the environment, where we contribute to better balance in agricultural development and deliver some interesting industrial solutions to environmental problems."[19] Haslestad held the office until 2014, when the company fired him, saying they needed someone who could complete the upcoming merger negotiations and that Haslestad had been on the point of retiring.[8] Svein Richard Brandtzaeg ten days earlier had decided not to leave Hydro to take over the helm of Yara,[20] after contract negotiations were leaked and charges were laid against Enger, the prior CEO.[21] In January Yara reached an agreement with Vale to sell its Brazilian shares of Fosfertil for $785 million US.[22] Also in 2010, ANZ Bank called in the receivers on the 65% share of Burrup owned by, which was later sold to Yara and to Apache Corporation of New York, which had a gas supply agreement with Burrup.[23] In 2016 the Oswal couple was still litigating the fairness of the proceedings, alleging coercion.[23] Radhika has also been accused of dodging a $186 million tax bill. Also in separate proceedings, her husband is alleged to have taken more than $150 million from entities associated with the fertiliser plant and to have spent the money on private planes and other luxury goods. The two left Perth for Dubai in 2010.[23]
On February 25, 2011 the US Treasury Department lifted sanctions that had been in place against Yara subsidiary Libyan Norwegian Fertilizer because of its affiliation with the Libyan government.[24][25]
In March 2011 the Dutch government froze about €3 billion in Libyan assets, including Yara's Sluiskil joint venture, half-owned by the LIA and the NOCL[26] On August 3, 2011 Yara announced that it was selling its share in its Russian Rossosh NPK plant for $390 million US, or 2.1 billion kroner (NOK).[27]
In 2013 Yara was enmeshed in a scandal that involved many companies and transactions that may not have taken place, Dagens Næringsliv. Norway's business daily, reported that Yara had paid over eight million Norwegian krone to Shukri Ghanem, formerly Libya's prime minister, oil minister, and senior commander of the state oil company. Ghanem had been found dead in the Austrian Danube in 2012.[28] Yara issued fictitious invoices to account for the money transfers, which were deposited in the bank account of a relative of Ghanem in the UBS Bank in Switzerland.[28] The Norwegian (Økokrim) anti-corruption agency noticed the payments in 2011. The head of the upstream segment, Tor Halba, had warned of possible corrupt practices in a 2008 internal email. Investigators came across the payments when they seized business records for two Swiss-based businesses, one of them Yara's fertilizer trading subsidiary, Balderton. Yara's own investigation uncovered additional corruption in India.[28] Økokrim charged the company with gross corruption in both cases.[28]
On October 26, 2013 Yara acquired OFD Holding Inc.(OFD) from Omimex Resources Inc. for US$425 million, gaining production facilities in Colombia and distribution companies across Latin America.[29]
2014
Norwegian authorities had been informed by the company in 2011 that it might have been involved in corruption in connection with 2008 negotiations leading to 2009's investment of 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner into a 50% share of Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Company,[30] or LIFECO.[31]
In January 2014, the corporation agreed to pay a $48 million fine in a case involving corruption between 2004 and 2009. The company admitted bribing senior government officials in India and Libya, as well as to suppliers in Russia and India.[32] The fine was the largest ever of its kind in Norway.[33] The case puts two cohorts of Yara executives up against each other.[34]
On 10 January 2014 the Norwegian Cabinet approved the indictment of former deputy CEO Daniel Clauw in connection with Norway's investigation of Yara.[35] Three other Yara executives were also indicted in the case.[36] They were sentenced July 7, 2015. Enger, the former CEO, received the harshest sentence, three years. The former chief legal officer, Kendrick Wallace, was given a 2½-year sentence, and Clauw and former upstream coordinator Tor Halba were given two-year sentences.[37] Yara International announced in September 2014 that it was in talks with CF Industries about a possible merger of equals, a deal worth over $27 billion.[38][39]
2015
In Zambia, Yara acquired Greenbelt Fertilizers, a company with a strong footprint in Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi. In September 2015, Svein Tore Holsether joined Yara as the company's new President and CEO. In 2015, the last Yara Prize was awarded before it was turned into the Africa Food Prize. The prize was launched in 2005. From 2016 and onwards, the Yara Prize has been turned into the Africa Food Prize, in collaboration with Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).[40]
In February 2016 the two urea and two ammonia plants Yara has in Brega were operating at less than 50% of their capacity.[41]
In 2017, Yara ordered the Yara Birkeland, which will be the world's first autonomous ship. Entering service in 2018, it will be fully autonomous by 2020.[42]
In connection with the protests in Belarus in 2020, the opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called Yara International to stop working with Belarusian state-owned company Belaruskali or to ensure that they respect workers' rights. The state-owned company Belaruskali had previously fired employees who had taken part in strikes or demonstrations.[43] In the course of this, Yara published a statement in which they called on the Belarusian state company to stop punishing workers.[44]
30% of the Russian fertilizer producer OAO Minudobreniya ("Rossosh"), bought in February 2005.[46]
In April 2006, an ammonia plant opened in Burrup, Australia. Yara presently holds a 35% stake and is involved in litigation with the other share-holder, Pankaj Oswal.
In July 2006, Yara bought a controlling interest in the Brazilian fertilizer distribution and marketing company Fertibras.[47]
In September 2006, Yara bought 50% of the Geneva-based trading company Balderton Fertilisers SA.
In May 2007, Yara bought 30.05% of Finnish fertilizer company Kemira GrowHow and successfully tendered an offer to buy the rest.[48]
In August 2007, Yara entered into a joint venture with Wilhelmsen Maritime Services that owned 50% of the Norwegian-registered company Yarwil, which provides emission reduction systems for NOx emissions from ship engines.[49]
In July 2008, Yara entered into an agreement to acquire Canadian nitrogen producer SaskFerco, completing the deal in October 2008. Afterwards the fertilizer plant located in Belle Plaine began to operate as Yara Belle Plaine Inc.[50]
50% of a fertiliser factory in Brega, owned by Yara as a result of its 50% stake in Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Company (LIFECO).[51] The co-owners of LIFECO are the National Oil Corporation of Libya (NOC) and the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) — each with 25%.[51] Yara got rid of its stake in LIFECO, at the end of 2020.[52]
In September 2009, Yara began construction of a new Urea7 factory at Sluiskil, in the Netherlands.
In October 2009, Qafco, in which Yara has 25% equity interest, signed a letter of intent to build the Qafco-6 expansion project. The project included construction of a urea plant with a total daily production capacity of 3,850 tons.[53]
In January 2010, Yara acquired the remaining 50% of Balderton Fertilisers.[54]
In December 2012, Yara acquired Bunge Limited´s fertilizer blending facilities, brands, and warehouses in Brazil. Brazilian antitrust authorities, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense or Conselho Administrativo de Defesa Econômica in Portuguese (CADE), approved the acquisition in May 2013. Yara and Bunge completed the transaction in August 2013.[55]
In October 2013, Yara acquired the remaining 50% of Yarwil, previously owned by Wilhelmsen Maritime Services through a joint venture with Yara.[56]
In November 2013, Yara acquired OFD Holding from Omimex Resources Inc. for fertilizer production facilities in Colombia and distribution companies in Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Bolivia. This transaction further strengthened Yara's downstream footprint and growth platform in Latin America and was highly complementary to its recent acquisition of Bunge's fertilizer business in Brazil.[29]
Libyan Norwegian Fertiliser Company B.V.,[57] registered in the Netherlands, is co-owned by Yara and "Libyan partners ... with close ties to Muammar Gaddafi and his clan" according to Dagens Næringsliv.[58] Authorities[who?] have frozen[when?] the joint venture's bank accounts in the Netherlands.[59]
In 2018, Yara opened a logistics-focused European Business Centre in Vilnius, Lithuania.[60]
In 2018, Yara opened its Myanmar office, hiring agronomists and commercial employees for its local operations.[61]
In December 2023, Yara acquired Agribios Italiana, an organic fertilizer business for an undisclosed amount.[62]
Chairmen
Leif Teksum (2014—incumbent). Replaced Bernt Reitan after the annual general meeting on May 5, 2014.[63] Teksum oversaw DNB's Swedish and Norwegian portfolio, and headed DNB's Norwegian business market and international operations before becoming Yara's chairman.[64]
Bernt Reitan ( 2012—2014) announced in April 2014 he that he would not seek another term after May 2014.[65][66] In September 2012 the election committee of Yara announced that they were unaware that Reitan's former employer, ALCOA was under investigated for corruption by the United States.[64][67]
Kristian Olaf Bernhard Birkeland was a Norwegian scientist, professor of physics at the Royal Fredriks University in Oslo. He is best remembered for his theories of atmospheric electric currents that elucidated the nature of the aurora borealis. In order to fund his research on the aurorae, he invented the electromagnetic cannon and the Birkeland–Eyde process of fixing nitrogen from the air. Birkeland was nominated for the Nobel Prize seven times.
Statoil ASA was a Norwegian petroleum company established in 1972. It merged with the oil and gas division of Norsk Hydro in 2007 and was known as StatoilHydro until 2009, when the name was changed back to Statoil ASA. The brand Statoil was retained as a chain of fuel stations owned by StatoilHydro. Statoil was the largest petroleum company in the Nordic countries. In the 2013 Fortune 500, Statoil was ranked as the 39th -largest company in the world. While Statoil was listed on both the Oslo Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange, the Norwegian state still held majority ownership, with 64%. The company's headquarters are located in Norway's oil capital Stavanger. The name Statoil was a truncated form of the State's oil (company).
Norsk Hydro ASA is a Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around the world and is active on all continents. The Norwegian state owns 34.3% of the company through the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. A further 6.5% is owned by Folketrygdfond, which administers the Government Pension Fund of Norway. Norsk Hydro employs approximately 35,000 people. Hilde Merete Aasheim has been the CEO since May, 2019.
Rjukan is a town in Tinn Municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The town is also the administrative centre of Tinn Municipality. The town is located in the Vestfjorddalen valley, between the lakes Møsvatn and Tinnsjå. The municipal council of Tinn declared town status for Rjukan in 1996. The town is located about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the west of the village of Miland and about 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the northwest of the village of Tuddal.
Samuel Eyde was a Norwegian engineer and industrialist. He was the founder of both Norsk Hydro and Elkem.
Eivind Kristofer Reiten is a Norwegian economist, corporate officer and politician for the Centre Party. He served as Minister of Fisheries from 1985-1986 and Minister of Petroleum and Energy from 1989-1990, before entering a career in business. Reiten served as the Director General (CEO) of Norsk Hydro between 2001 and 2009, after which he took up the chairmanship of Norske Skog. Eivind Reiten was also Chairman of StatoilHydro for four days until he resigned from his position after Norsk Hydro had been accused of corruption.
The Frank–Caro process, also called cyanamide process, is the nitrogen fixation reaction of calcium carbide with nitrogen gas in a reactor vessel at about 1,000 °C. The reaction is exothermic and self-sustaining once the reaction temperature is reached. Originally the reaction took place in large steel cylinders with an electrical resistance element providing initial heat to start the reaction. Modern production uses rotating ovens. The synthesis produces a solid mixture of calcium cyanamide (CaCN2), also known as nitrolime, and carbon.
Tinnsjø railway ferry was a Norwegian railway ferry service on Lake Tinn that connected the Rjukan Line and Tinnoset Line. The 30-kilometer (19 mi) long ferry trip made it possible for Norsk Hydro to transport its fertilizer from the plant at Rjukan to the port in Skien. The ferry services were operated by the company's subsidiary Norsk Transport from 1909 to 1991, when the plant closed.
Equinor ASA is a Norwegian state-owned multinational energy company headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. It is primarily a petroleum company operating in 36 countries with additional investments in renewable energy. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, Equinor was ranked as the 169th-largest public company in the world. In 2023, the company was ranked 52nd in the same list. As of 2021, the company has 21,126 employees.
Norsk Hydro Rjukan is an industrial facility operated by Norsk Hydro at Rjukan in Tinn, Norway, from 1911 to 1991. The plant manufactured chemicals related to the production of fertilizer, initially potassium nitrate from arc-produced nitric acid and later ammonia, hydrogen, and heavy water. The location was chosen for its vicinity to hydroelectric power plants built in the Måna river.
Thorleif Enger is a Norwegian businessperson and was Chief Executive Officer of Yara International. Enger was educated at the University of Colorado where he earned his PhD in Structural Engineering. He worked for Royal Dutch Shell until 1973, after which he moved to Norway to work for Norsk Hydro. He was director of the Oseberg oil field 1982–86, and from then until 1996 was president of the exploration and production division. He was then executive vice president of Hydro Oil and Gas until 1999, when he became executive vice president of Hydro Agri, and when this division was demerged to create Yara in 2004 he became its CEO. He announced his retirement in September 2008. Enger has been president of the International Fertilizer Industry Association, and has been a chairman or non-executive director of several boards, including Telenor, Spring Energy, HitecVision, and Marine Harvest. In 2010, Kapital named him one of the top ten business leaders in Norway after World War II.
Diderik Børsting Schnitler is a Norwegian businessperson.
The history of fertilizer has largely shaped political, economic, and social circumstances in their traditional uses. Subsequently, there has been a radical reshaping of environmental conditions following the development of chemically synthesized fertilizers.
Sven Ombudstvedt is a Norwegian businessperson. He is the chief executive officer of Norske Skog (2010–present).
The history of the Haber process begins with the invention of the Haber process at the dawn of the twentieth century. The process allows the economical fixation of atmospheric dinitrogen in the form of ammonia, which in turn allows for the industrial synthesis of various explosives and nitrogen fertilizers, and is probably the most important industrial process developed during the twentieth century.
The Rjukan–Notodden Industrial Heritage Site is a World Heritage Site in Telemark county, Norway, created to protect the industrial landscape around Lake Heddalsvatnet and Vestfjorddalen valley. The landscape is centered on the plant built by the Norsk Hydro company to produce calcium nitrate fertilizer from atmospheric nitrogen using the Birkeland–Eyde process. The complex also includes hydroelectric power plants, railways, transmission lines, factories, and workers' accommodation and social institutions in the towns of Notodden and Rjukan.
Svein Richard Brandtzæg is a Norwegian chemist and business executive.
Egil Olav Hogna is a Norwegian engineer and business executive. On 1 September 2015 he was appointed new CEO of Sapa Group, the world's largest aluminium processor with NOK 53 billion in turnover and 22,400 employees in 40 countries. Following Hydro's acquisition of Sapa in 2017, Sapa was integrated as Hydro's largest business area. Hogna led the Extruded Solutions business area from 2017 to 2020. On 1 December 2020, he took over as CEO of Norconsult. Hogna has a master's degree in Industrial Economics from NTNU in Trondheim. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a management education from Harvard Business School.
Thomas Wilhelmsen is a Norwegian shipping magnate. He is one of the owners and the current chief executive officer of Wilh. Wilhelmsen, one of the world's largest shipping companies with 21,000 employees in 75 countries.
Libya–Norway relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between Libya and Norway. While neither country has an embassy in the other—Libya has its closest embassy in Stockholm, whereas Norway has an embassy in Cairo—the economic relations have been more significant. Notably, Norway also took part in the bombing campaign against Libya in 2011.
↑ Eyde, Sam (1909). "The Manufacture of Nitrates from the Atmosphere by the Electric Arc — Birkeland–Eyde Process". Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. 57 (2949): 568–576. JSTOR41338647.
↑ Aaron John Ihde (1984). The development of modern chemistry. Courier Dover Publications. p.678. ISBN0-486-64235-6.
↑ Office of Foreign Assets Control (November 18, 2011). "Specially Designated Nationals Update". Libya Designations Removals. US Department of the Treasury. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
↑ Dagens Næringsliv, DN Magasinet, 2011-04-16, p.53: "Det har opprettet et selskap i Nederland sammen med libyske partnere som skulle vise seg å ha tette forbindelser til Muammar Gadaffi og hans klan."
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NOK 2.322 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020) [1] 
–NOK 1.226 Billion (Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2020) [1] 
