PhosAgro Announces Sponsorship of the 2016 FIDE World Chess Championship

MOSCOW, August 30, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

On the eve of the World Chess Championship match scheduled for 11-30 November in New York City, PhosAgro (Moscow Exchange, LSE: PHOR), one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, announces that it has signed a strategic partnership with World Chess by Agon Limited, which holds global commercial rights for the organisation of championship matches of the World Chess Federaton (FIDE). The World Chess Championship Match will take place between Magnus Carlsen (Norway) and Sergey Karjakin (Russia) in New York City.

The contract was signed by PhosAgro CEO and Russian Chess Federation Board of Trustees Member Andrey Guryev and Ilya Merenzon, CEO of Agon Group.

Andrey Guryev said: "Sponsorship of this chess tournament is part of PhosAgro's long-standing corporate responsibility programme, which supports education, science, medicine, sports and healthy lifestyles. The Company has a long history of cooperating with chess federations, including as the sponsor of the 2014 World Chess Championship match in Sochi.  

"I personally am a big fan of chess and for me it is a great honour to be able to lead a company that has a tradition of supporting the sport. Chess is a great way to improve problem solving and strategic thinking skills, which are key for a fast-developing company like PhosAgro to remain competitive in a global market by always thinking several moves ahead.

"I look forward to a great contest between two of the youngest opponents in the history of chess."

Chess, and the World Chess Championship match in particular, are the ideal marketing platform to increase awareness of the PhosAgro brand globally. Hundreds of millions of the most educated, and therefore most successful, people in the world will follow the match. This audience, which is important to PhosAgro as a global company with a presence in 100 countries, whose securities trade on the Moscow and London Stock Exchanges, and that has the ambitious goal of expanding its base of investors, partners and clients.

The Championship Match, which will be held in New York for the first time since 1996, will take place in the South Street Seaport district, a five minute walk from Wall Street, in the historic Fulton Market Building. The arena will feature dedicated spectator and VIP lounges with panoramic views of the Brooklyn Bridge, as well as retail space, a restaurant, TV studios and much more.

Ilya Merenzon said: "I am delighted that PhosAgro has become a strategic partner to chess as we continue to increase the popularity of the sport around the world. Chess is the ultimate battle of minds; a pure strategic contest for the smartphone generation and is associated with attributes such as intelligence, sophistication and discipline.

"World Chess is open for business and offers an unrivalled opportunity for brand partners to be associated with this global sport that is played and admired by countless people around the world."

Notes to Editors

PhosAgro is one of the leading global vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers. The Company focuses on the production of phosphate-based fertilizers, feed phosphate and high-grade phosphate rock (P₂O₅ content of not less than 39%).

The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe, the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock worldwide and the third largest MAP/DAP producer in the world (excluding China), according to Fertecon. PhosAgro is also one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia. It is Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate.

PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, 33 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.

About FIDE: 

The World Chess Federation or Fédération Internationale des Echecs, (FIDE), is recognised by its members and the International Olympic Committee as the international federation in the domain of chess, the supreme body responsible for the sport of chess and its Championships. FIDE has the sole rights to organise the World Chess Championships and the Chess Olympiads.

About Agon Limited: 

Agon Limited is the official partner of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and owner the World Chess brand as well as commercial rights holder to the FIDE World Chess Championship cycle. The company aims to develop and commercialize chess, create favorable environment for partners, players, and brands, and to significantly expand the broadcast coverage of the sport.