PhosAgro explained

JSC PhosAgro
Native Name:ОАО «ФосАгро»
Native Name Lang:ru
Type:Public (OAO)
Traded As:
Foundation:2003
Location:Moscow, Russia
Key People:Xavier R. Rolet KBE,(Chairman)
Andrey A. Guryev, (CEO)
Industry:Chemical
Products:Fertilizer
Num Employees:5,001
Homepage:www.phosagro.com

PhosAgro is a Russian chemical holding company producing fertilizer, phosphates and feed phosphates. The company is based in Moscow, Russia, and its subsidiaries include Apatit, a company based in the Murmansk Region and engaged in the extraction of apatite rock. The company is Europe's largest producer of phosphate-based fertilisers.

Ownership history

The original owner of PhosAgro's assets (most notably Apatit, a Soviet-era mining company) was exiled Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky via his company, Menatep. In 2003, Khodorkovsky was arrested for tax evasion and fraud; the charges against him were ostensibly connected to Menatep's purchase of shares in Apatit. However, some have seen the charges as punishment for publicly clashing with Vladimir Putin.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

During Khordorkovsky's trial, the state seized Menatep's stake in Apatit.[6] In 2004, Andrey Guryev, who at the time ran Apatit on behalf of Khodorkovsky's Menatep and was also a Russian senator, wrote a message to Khodorkovsky in prison to convince him to sell his remaining 50% stake in PhosAgro to Guryev. Khodorkovsky sold his shares to Guryev for a low price.[7]

In July 2011, PhosAgro raised $538 million in a London IPO.[8]

In 2012, PhosAgro paid $344 million at a state tender to buy back a 26.7% share in Apatit, bringing the company's ownership to 76%.[9]

As of 2012, Andrey Guryev and his family owned 5.47% of PhosAgro via various trusts.[10]

PhosAgro is 19.35% owned by Vladimir Litvinenko,[11] who oversaw Vladimir Putin's plagiarized doctoral thesis in 1996.[12]

In 2022, the company's revenue amounted to 164 billion rubles.[13]

Subsidiaries

Carbon footprint

PhosAgro reported Total CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for 31 December 2020 at 5,961 Kt (+113/+1.9% y-o-y).[14] There is little evidence of a consistent declining trend as yet.

United Kingdom controversy

In June 2017, Igor Sychev, a former head of PhosAgro's tax department, presented a claim against PhosAgro to the London High Court of Justice. In his claim he demanded 1% of the company's shares or their value in cash (approximately $55 million, and also $8 million in cash to serve as his remuneration for having previously defended PhosAgro interests in court).[18]

According to Sychev's statement, the conflict started after he didn't receive the agreed remuneration for defending PhosAgro's interests in court.

The defendants in the London court case are Andrey Guryev, PhosAgro's Vice President of the board of directors, and another member of the board, Igor Antoshin, together with some offshore companies based in Seychelles and Belize. A London judge has given permission to open proceedings against the defendants.[19]

In October 2019, another lawsuit was launched against PhosAgro in the London High Court. Alexander Gorbachev, a Russian businessman and former senior executive at PhosAgro, is suing the company for what he alleges is his rightful share of the business, a stake that is worth £1 billion at today's market value. The full trial will be heard in the High Court in 2020-2021.[20]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: London's Most Mysterious Mansion. Caesar. Ed. 2015-05-23. 2019-11-18. en. 0028-792X.
  2. Web site: The roublemaker . 2022-06-11 . www.telegraph.co.uk.
  3. Web site: 2005-06-01 . Editorial: A Verdict Under Shadow . 2022-06-11 . Arab News . en.
  4. Web site: Oligarch? No, I'm just an oil magnate... Business The Guardian . 2022-06-11 . amp.theguardian.com.
  5. Wolosky . Lee S. . 2000 . Putin's Plutocrat Problem . Foreign Affairs . 79 . 2 . 18–31 . 10.2307/20049638 . 20049638 . 0015-7120.
  6. News: Phosagro buys stake to secure fertiliser component supplier. 2012-09-05. Reuters. 2019-11-17. en.
  7. News: London's Most Mysterious Mansion. Caesar. Ed. 2015-05-23. 2019-11-17. en. 0028-792X.
  8. News: Phosagro raises $538 million in London IPO. 2011-07-13. Reuters. 2019-11-18. en.
  9. News: Corporate watch: an appetite for Apatit. Financial Times. en-GB. 2019-11-17.
  10. Web site: Corporate watch: an appetite for Apatit. Financial Times. en-GB. 2019-11-18.
  11. Web site: Shareholder Information . PhosAgro . February 27, 2018.
  12. Web site: It All Boils Down to Plagiarism. Cdi.org. 2006-03-31. 2010-03-02. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090806181040/http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/2006-78-3a.cfm. 2009-08-06. Clifford Gaddy: "Mr. Litvinenko -- who was directly involved in the dissertation, allegedly helped [Putin] choose the topic and was more or less the advisor for the dissertation -- is himself a member of the higher accreditation commission, which is the government-appointed body to be the watchdog over standards about degree-granting, dissertations and quality control for higher education in Russia. So it's extra scandalous that he would be involved in this case of, at minimum, shoddiness and plagiarism, possibly something worse, which would be the literal purchase, either by money or political influence, of a dissertation by someone who didn't actually do the work. That second point is not clear. I don't have proof about that. All I have is proof about the plagiarism."
  13. Web site: ПАО "Фосагро" . 2023-12-26 . www.rusprofile.ru . ru.
  14. Web site: PhosAgro's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210627215111/https://www.phosagro.com/upload/iblock/a55/a5557e0f938c5aea0813044c25f65c07.pdf . June 27, 2021 . Alt URL
  15. Web site: PhosAgro's Sustainability Report for 2018Q4 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210930095223/https://www.phosagro.com/upload/iblock/36a/36a4db88379290234dcca709f7d698ec.pdf . September 30, 2021 . Alt URL
  16. Web site: PhosAgro's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210627215111/https://www.phosagro.com/upload/iblock/a55/a5557e0f938c5aea0813044c25f65c07.pdf . June 27, 2021 . Alt URL
  17. Web site: PhosAgro's Sustainability Report for 2020Q4 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210627215111/https://www.phosagro.com/upload/iblock/a55/a5557e0f938c5aea0813044c25f65c07.pdf . June 27, 2021 . Alt URL
  18. Web site: I Couldn't Achieve Any Justice In Russia . Ein News . Barchart.com . November 13, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180228041211/https://www.barchart.com/story/futures/quotes/ZCZ17/news/15392/igor-sychev-i-couldnt-achieve-any-justice-in-russia . 2018-02-28 . dead .
  19. Web site: Putin's Russia: One Man's Story Of Corruption & Persecution - EU Today. Redefyne. eutoday.net. en-US. 2019-11-18.
  20. Web site: Billion-pound dispute over ownership of LSE-listed Russian company launches in UK court, as Judge rules that oligarch was correctly served legal papers, prepared by Fieldfisher LLP, in London street. AFP.com. 17 April 2012 . en. 2019-11-18.

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