I was going to write about this matter and how Agrium turned to be one of the strongest companies in the world even more stronger than the Egyptian President that ordered from couple of months ago to transfer the factory from Damietta but nothing changed and nothing happened, then the Parliament issued an order to the government to transfer the factory and the order seemed to be ignored . Seriously Agrium did not give a damn to the people’s anger or the president’s order or the parliament order !! Did not I tell you that I felt it is so strong ,it was two miles away from acting like AT&T and supporting a coup in Egypt that serves its interests.
Well may be they did not need a Coup because they already got Ahmed Nazif who did not shut up as usual and attacked the people of Damietta !! I do not know if those who are in high rank in the regime hierarchy intend to make him look like an idiot or like the public enemy or what .
Anyhow things began to change to our side since last week , I was going to write abut it but I forgot “Please forgive me 
Then the final good news came yesterday when the Egyptian government at last announced that the Agrium will leave Egypt and it will not build its pollutant factory in beautiful Ras El-Bar. Yes the big surprise that it had cancelled its $280 Million deal with the Canadian fertiliser giant, come one people , we do not need more tensions already , the country is boiling for a long time.
It did not stop at here ,but the cabinet ordered than no Industrial project would be built in the project land.
It turned out Misr Oil processing Company “MOPCO” will will abide by the agreement over which it negotiated with Agrium to acquire the latter's shares and carrying out the company's plans on the land allocated for it in the industrial zone in the western side of Suez Canal.
Already Agrium will buy 20% of MOPCO as some kind of Compensation.
This is really an important victory , yes the pollutant factory is still there , but we can do !
As someone who studied Business administration , I think that the Case of Agrium should be a case study all over the world as when a company listens to the public pressure.
You must take in Consideration that Agrium depended over number of facts ,most important that we are third world country eager to attract international investments and we are a dictatorship ,people do not have actual opinion , the decision making is in the hands of the regime.
But they are ignored to study the external environment they are operating in it and the fact that it is changing , companies always that does not realize this quickly to change their strategies accordingly.
No one can deny that there are a lot of changes in Egypt now on the public level people especially outside the capital can express their anger more widely.
Agrium opened the eyes of the Egyptian people and raised their environmental awareness , especially among the working and the poor segments that the government and the companies do put in their consideration.
Agrium is packing and leaving ,yet there are other Agriums in Egypt in other Governorates where the people are not lucky like the people of Damietta nor thy got a governor who will stand to their side .
Links :
Don't know the specifics on this plant, but when it is characterized as a "pollutant" plant, I immediately think "biased".
ReplyDeleteI doubt this fertilizer plant pollutes any more than any other fertilizer plant.
At the same time, I understand that no one wants an industrial plant in their neighborhood.
@anonymous, it is a nitrogen production planet according to scientific unbiased researches it is pollutant to the environment especially for the marine life and air
ReplyDeleteAlready Saudi Arabia refused this factory along with France for its environmental hazards
Agrium won an award last year for one of the best employers in Canada.If this plant was that risky for citizens then your own govt should have figured that out before allowing Agrium to locate it there.Don't blame Agrium for your govt incompetence.Protest your govt,not Agrium.
ReplyDelete@anonymous, I do not care whether if they won an award for the best employers in Canada , with my all respect I have to blame them and attack them when they put their hands in the hands of a corrupted dictatorship regime with no consideration or respect to the people.
ReplyDeleteWith my all respect I have to attack them when its Canadian manager in Egypt comes on TV and threats us in the most disgusting way
Yes my government is wrong but so is Agrium !!
Hello Zeinobia,
ReplyDeleteI read a few articles talking about this plant which seems a threat for your environment and I just found your blog.
This is kind of ironic... I was searching about Agrium because I have shares in this "environmental" mutual fund that my bank offer... sadly the name of Agrium appears in the list for that fund.. which is for people that want to invest in companies that are "responsible" in matters of environment. :-s
And I took a look at the four main titles for the same fund:
- EnCana corporation
- Potash corporation of Saskatchewan
- Canadian Natural Resources
- Research in motions
Doing a google search, I found that the first company is an oil company which proposed to drill 1275 holes in a protected wildlife area in northern Canada...
The second one is a big nitrogen producer, which has been blamed for draining well water out of dozens of homes...
The third one is not the canadian ministry but another oil company (production from oil sands)
And the fourth company sells Blackberry handheld devices (???)
references:
http://www.aenweb.ca/node/1252
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potash_Corporation_of_Saskatchewan
http://www.cnrl.com/horizon/
http://www.rim.com/
@Guillaume , my dear they are destroying the environment they are participating in funds not to save it later but to enhance their image , public relations tricks
ReplyDelete@Zeinobia, I think you misunderstood Guillaume's post. Agrium did not own the mutual fund, it was part of it. Mutual funds constitute of several stock of different companies.
ReplyDelete@Dear Hazem , no I understand it ,they are participating in this fund along with other companies to enhance their public image
ReplyDelete@Zeinobia, Companies DON'T participate in mutual funds by their choice. There is a money manager for the fund who works independently and is in charge of selecting the stocks which make up the fund. So your statement "they are participating in funds not to save it later but to enhance their image , public relations tricks" does not apply here.
ReplyDelete