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.