PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev Took Part in the Official Opening Ceremony of the World Chess Candidates Tournament

BERLIN, March 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Andrey Guryev, CEO of PhosAgro, Vice President and Trustee of the Russian Chess Federation (RCF), took part in the official opening ceremony of the Candidates Tournament, a 2017-2018 World Chess Championship event that takes place in Berlin's multi-level exhibition space Kühlhaus between 10 and 28 March 2018. The winner of the Tournament will become the opponent of the standing world champion Magnus Carlsen in the match to challenge his chess crown.

PhosAgro is a strategic partner of the 2017-2018 World Chess Championship cycle, including the Moscow round of Grand Prix, the Candidates Tournament and the upcoming Championship Match in London.

Eight grandmasters take part in the Candidates Tournament, with three of them - Sergey Karjakin, Alexander Grischuk and Vladimir Kramnik - competing to challenge the reigning world champion title and bring the chess crown back to Russia. The Candidates Tournament is an all-play-all 14-round tournament. If any contestant scores 6.5, the match will be stopped. If the score is 6:6, a tie-break will be played. The winner will be decided on 27 or 28 March, depending on the course of the game.

In addition to attending the Tournament's opening ceremony on 9 March, Andrey Guryev visited the first move ceremony performed by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on 10 March, and also made an opening move yesterday, on 11 March, in a chess game between Russian grandmasters Sergey Karyakin and Vladimir Kramnik which ended in a stalemate.

PhosAgro CEO, RCF Vice President and the member of the RCF Board of Trustees Andrey Guryev, said, "I am proud that PhosAgro is again sponsoring a top-notch chess tournament. We have supported the development and promotion of chess in Russia and worldwide for many years.

"Chess is an intellectually challenging sport and a perfect tool for developing problem-solving and strategic-thinking skills. My experience at PhosAgro tells me that such skills are crucial to business success, as strategic thinking and the ability to see several moves ahead give us a competitive edge on the global arena to sell our products to 100 countries worldwide. In addition, the international chess championship watched virtually by the whole world is an ideal marketing platform to increase our brand strength."

"It is no secret that I hope to see a Russian grandmaster win in this Tournament in order to make another attempt at returning the chess crown to Russia. However, I sincerely wish all players the best of luck. I believe we will all see brilliant chess games."

The Company has supported chess since 2010 by sponsoring activities of the Russian Chess Federation. PhosAgro is also a strategic partner of Russian grandmaster Sergey Karjakin. The Company sponsored the World Chess Championship Matches in Sochi and New York, where Sergey Karjakin demonstrated a truly spectacular game.

PhosAgro also sponsors educational centres (part of the Company's Educated and Healthy Children of Russia (DROZD) project) in communities where it operates, and helps them promote many sports, with a special emphasis on chess. PhosAgro organises chess classes in daycare centres and schools under its patronage.

In addition to chess, PhosAgro has been a long-standing partner of the Russian Olympians Foundation, the Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, the Moscow Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation, the Russian Swimming Federation, and the St Petersburg Regional Judo Federation, and acts as a sponsor of the Severyanka (Vologda Region) and Proton-BAES (Saratov Region) volleyball clubs, Avtodor basketball club, and Turbina speedway team from Balakovo (Saratov Region). This is the Company's contribution to international victories by Russian athletes.

About PhosAgro:  

PhosAgro (http://www.phosagro.ru) is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P₂O₅ content of not less than 39% (according to IFA, Fertecon and CRU).

The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe, the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock worldwide, and one of the top-three MAP/DAP producers in the world (by production volumes, according to IFA). PhosAgro is also one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia (according to CRU and RAFP). PhosAgro is Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to RAFP).

PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, 39 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in 100 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia.

PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and global depositary receipts ("GDRs") for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes.