* Plans $700 million investment in 2009
* Seeks 15 billion rouble state loan
NOVOMOSKOVSK, Russia, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Russian fertiliser maker EuroChem plans an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares within five years, its chief executive said.
"EuroChem must necessarily be a public company and this (IPO) will definitely happen within the next five years," Dmitry Strezhnev told reporters in the central Russian town of Novomoskovsk, south of Moscow, on Monday.
He said the decision on the exact timing of the IPO will depend on the market and the company's investment needs.
EuroChem plans to invest $700 million in its development this year, mainly in its Gremyachinskoye potassium salts deposit in the Volgograd region.
EuroChem seeks government investments of 10 billion roubles ($324 million) to develop production of potassium fertiliser and also a loan of 15 billion roubles from the state-run VEB bank.
"We have approached VEB as our income declined," Strezhnev said.
"We believe that the fertilisers market will be restored in three to four years and we will have to live through this period. We will not need investments (during this period), but we will need loans for five to seven years which we could repay."
EuroChem reported a fall in its net profit to 5.7 billion roubles in the first half of 2009 from 18.0 billion in the same period a year ago due to a decline of global prices for nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers it has been concentrating on so far. (Reporting by Maria Plis and Natalya Shurmina, writing by Aleksandras Budrys; Editing by Rupert Winchester)