The Israel Corporation, which owns Israel Chemicals, has signed an agreement with the government on financing for protecting the Dead Sea, the salt harvest, and increased royalty payments, the company has announced. The permanent arrangement is based on a set of principles mutually agreed upon last January, according to which Israel Chemicals will finance some 80% of the Dead Sea salt harvest – which creates a risk of flooding in the Dead Sea hotel zone, at a cost of NIS 3.04 billion. Related stories: Petition against Dead Sea salt harvest denied Treasury, DSW compromise over Dead Sea deal Government vs. environment In addition, the company will pay a 10% royalty on every amount of potash it sells in excess of 1.5 million tons. The Dead Sea Works will assume responsibility for the physical and economic implementation of the project. Any budget overruns that do not stem from changes in the planning institutions will be paid by the Dead Sea Works. The Dead Sea hotels are at risk of being flooded by rising water levels (Photo: Dafna Talmon) Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said as the agreement was being signed that he "welcomed the government's decision to approve the historic deal on the Dead Sea's natural resources." "The agreement, along with our recent amendment to the Law for the Encourage of Capital Investment will bring the state hundreds of millions to a billion shekels each year." Several months ago, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan addressed the deal, calling it a "historic miss." Erdan said that "Israel Chemicals received a unique natural resource and its shareholders earned a fortune, but the public's share was very small. With the new negotiations, there was a chance to increase the public's share significantly, but unfortunately, they didn't." Attorney Amit Bracha, general-director of the Adam, Teva V'din environmental group, attacked the agreement, saying that it maintained a government policy of damaging the Dead Sea. "The state is once again choosing to cosy up to the financiers at the cost of its natural resources, and the public is losing hundreds of millions of shekel," he said. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter