Doha (AFP)

In the heart of the desert of Qatar, Baladna cows ruminate peacefully, while investors rub their hands before the IPO of the farm, an illustration of Qatar's willingness to resist the embargo of its Gulf neighbors.

Giant fans cool the cows, sprinkled with light spraying foam as they move between their feeder and the milking site.

"We have made a commitment to provide Qatar with a fresh and regular supply of dairy products," said Ramez al-Khayyat, vice president of Baladna.

From scratch, the farm, 55 km north of Doha, now accounts for more than 90% of the country's fresh dairy requirements.

With the sudden shutdown of food imports from Saudi Arabia two years ago, Qatar's supermarket shelves have been stormed and Doha has had to react to ensure food security.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt broke off relations with Qatar in June 2017 and imposed economic sanctions on it, accusing Doha --which is demented - of supporting Islamist groups and their proximity to the country. Iran.

The embargo has banned Qatar's airspace from four countries, the closure of land routes and the suspension of trade.

The rich emirate gas pumped a quarter of its financial reserves to stabilize its economy and ... has imported hundreds of Holstein cows to deal with the shortage of dairy products.

- "High interest" -

This week, Baladna Farm will finalize the sale of 75% of its shares on the Doha Stock Exchange, allowing Qatari investors large and small to hold some of this symbol of "resistance" to the embargo.

Initially, the shares will only be offered to individuals and companies in Qatar. Foreigners may hold up to 49% of the shares at a later date that remains to be fixed.

"There is great interest from strategic investors who have taken 23% of the shares," said a source that follows this stock market.

These investors include the government pension fund and a subsidiary of the sovereign fund that will acquire 10% and 5% of the shares, respectively.

The Qatari Ministry of Industry will retain a "blocking minority" allowing it to appoint directors and veto certain decisions. The founders of Baladna will control a quarter of the capital not proposed on the stock market.

Thanks to this stock market operation, Baladna hopes to raise around 390 million dollars (352 million euros).

The injection of fresh money raised on the stock market will make the company "more sustainable, even when, in the future, the illegal blockade will be lightened," says AFP Mr. Khayyat.

But no signs of softening appear on the horizon, which pushes Baladna to diversify its catalog to include in recent months cheeses and yogurt, and even fruit juice.

For its food imports, Qatar, which has 2.7 million inhabitants, has turned to countries such as Turkey, Iran and Morocco.

- State support -

The Baladna stock market introduction, the only local offer this year, has been widely publicized in Qatar.

The farm hopes that the remaining 52% of the shares will be purchased in the final days of the introductory period that ends Thursday. Trading on the stock will begin on December 11th.

The company's growth prospects "supported by a strong regulatory framework in addition to its up-to-date valuation" give the stock an interesting perspective, says Raghu Mandagolathur, an analyst at the Kuwait Financial Center.

"Government support policies should favor the company over its competitors," says Raghu, referring to the subsidized land available to Baladna, among others.

Commercials were shown on YouTube showing trucks loading livestock, transported from Qatar Airways cargo planes to their vast desert stables.

The first 165 cows arrived by plane on July 11, 2017 and the herd now has 18,000 head.

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© 2019 AFP