Page 50 - bne_Magazine_May_2018_print

50 I Eastern Europe bne May 2018
Production of mineral fertilizers, lot No 1. From here, mineral fertilizers from Cherepovets are sent to customers all over the world. www.phosagro.com
INTERVIEW: Phosagro thriving in the time of sanctions
Ben Aris in Berlin
Imeet Andrei Guryev at Kuhlhaus
in central Berlin, the venue for this year’s world chess competition and
a typical Berlin venue: a former factory building with bare brick walls and heavy iron girders holding up the ceiling. It
is thronged with chess geeks who have come to see the best in the world battle over the 64 black and white squares.
Both Guryev and his father (also Andrei) are keen chess fans, and sponsors of the world chess championship since 2014. Despite the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia remains a force in the world of chess and several of the competitors
are Russians. The father is the founder of Phosagro, Russia’s largest fertiliser producer that has made him a billion- aire. The company has been on a tear, and is a favourite of both portfolio and bond investors. It is cash rich, has low debt and grows at a steady 10% a year irrespective of the shockwaves that have bombarded Russia in recent years.
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The small crowd of enthusiasts have flocked to Kuhlhaus and crowd the bal- cony overlooking the four boards in the darkened room. The venue has a gladiato- rial feel and the hushed silence is broken only by the occasional click of the players’ clocks after they make their moves.
“Russians have chess in the blood. Soviet kids learnt chess in their childhood,”
sponsored, the first being in Sochi in 2014, and last year the tournament was held in New York. The next one will be in London in November.
“It’s part of our social contribution,” says Guryev, lounging on a sofa in the VIP zone. “We sponsor sports in Russia and have spent some RUB2bn [$35mn] on charity. But it is good for business too.
“Just look around at the facts. Boom boom boom, we have growth everywhere”
says the younger Guryev, who took over the management of the company from his father while still in his thirties.
Guryev's father was a judo expert and junior is the vice president of the Rus- sian chess association. This is the third world chess tournament Phosagro has
We invited our investors in New York to come along and watch.”
Phosagro has been growing in stature as its business grows, and Guryev says he spends a lot of time on the road talking to investors and at sector conferences. Speaking constantly to investors interest-