Russia's Uralkali considers share buyback, delisting

(Recasts with Uralkali comment)

MOSCOW, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Russia's Uralkali , the world's biggest potash producer, will consider a new share repurchase programme next week, potentially leading to a delisting, the company said on Friday.

Uralkali has already spent $1.1 billion this year on a buyback that decreased its free float to 23 percent and increased the number of treasury shares, representing stock that has been bought back and is retained by the company.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) said in June that it had asked its audit committee to review the benefits of having its global depositary receipts (GDRs) listed on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) (LSE) and present its recommendations by the end of August.

The audit committee, which Uralkali said has also been evaluating a possible share repurchase programme, will present its recommendations for consideration by the board on Aug. 24, the company said in a statement on Friday.

A decision has yet to be made, the company said, but it added that a further decrease in the free float of its GDRs on the LSE could lead to a delisting.

Russian business daily Vedomosti reported on Friday that Uralkali would have to delist from the LSE if it buys back 10 percent of its shares from the market because that would lead to its free float dropping below the LSE's requirements.

News (Other OTC: NWSAL - news) agency Interfax had reported earlier that Uralkali might spend a further $1 billion to $1.5 billion on a share buyback and Vedomosti had said it could delist its shares by year-end and merge with shareholder Uralchem.

Mikhail Prokhorov's Onexim owns a 20 percent stake in Uralkali, Chengdong Investment Corporation holds 12.5 percent and Uralchem owns 19.99 percent. Treasury shares account for 24.2 percent. The rest is in free float. (Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Greg Mahlich and David Goodman)