Authorities in Cyprus have confirmed that a body discovered last month on a beach along the island’s southern coastline is that of Vladislav Baumgertner, the former chief executive of Russia’s largest potash company. Mr Baumgertner had previously been detained in Belarus in 2013 on charges of harming the Belarusian economy.
Police on a British military base in Cyprus stated that DNA analysis conclusively identified the body as that of the 53-year-old, who was reported missing from his home in the coastal city of Limassol on 7 January. His remains were found a week later on Avdimou beach.
An investigation into the circumstances and cause of Mr Baumgertner’s death is currently underway, according to the British Sovereign Base Areas police, who have notified his relatives. Avdimou beach is located within one of the two military bases retained by the UK after Cyprus gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960, which operate their own police force and courts.
Baumgertner was the CEO of Uralkali when Belarusian authorities placed him under house arrest in September 2013 after a dispute between his company and its Belarusian trading partner escalated. He was released two months later and extradited to Russia where prosecutors launched a criminal probe against him on abuse of office charges.
At the time, analysts had attributed Baumgertner’s arrest to retaliation for Uralkali’s decision to pull out of a joint venture. Uralkali and state-owned Belarusian Potash Co. had been exporting the commodity — a key ingredient in fertilizer — through a joint venture that at the time accounted for about a quarter of the world’s potash.
Baumgartner had been living in Cyprus for several years. He had reportedly been staying in an apartment above his place of business in Limassol that thousands of Russian expatriates have made their home.
