Dmytro Firtash's Group DF has said that there serious progress has been made in reaching a compromise with Gaz Ukrainy on launching public joint-stock company Azot (Cherkasy) and public joint-stock company Rivneazot.

"We have the serious progress in reaching a compromise with Gaz Ukrainy to settle this economic dispute. As a part of settling this economic dispute we would have a chance to get access to gas, and in this case we will be able to launch the plants," Group DF Managing Director Borys Krasniansky told Interfax-Ukraine on the sidelines of the 12th Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting.

He said that the plants must be launched to supply mineral fertilizers to the domestic market. He said that the opening of the market for Russian products would make it impossible to guarantee that the required volume of products is supplied to Ukraine.

"It's unlikely that the volume that they could provide would satisfy Ukrainian farmers," he said.

As reported, two of the four enterprises of Ostchem Group – Horlivka Stirol Concern and Severodonetsk Azot are located in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone and had production halted due to security concerns. Two more ammonia nitrate producers of the Group – Azot (Cherkasy) and Rivneazot, have been idle since April 2015 due to the absence of raw materials.

Only four enterprises of Ostchem Group out of six Ukrainian nitric fertilizer producers make the fertilizers which are the most popular among Ukrainian farmers: ammonia nitrate and urea-ammonia mixture.