Moscow – PhosAgro, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, has won the Grand Prix, for the third time, at the 2022 Russian Business Leaders: Dynamics and Responsibility awards, held by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE).
Award winners are selected in 16 different categories, including for dynamic business development, for import substitution projects, for contributions to territorial sustainability, for conducting environmentally responsible business and for developing human resources potential, among others. Some 287 of the largest companies in the country took part in the competition.
“The competition’s Grand Prix was awarded to PhosAgro for the third time. This shows that the Company’s performance in the area of corporate social responsibility as well as economic and investment activity is held in exceptionally high regard by the business community. PhosAgro continues to drive sustainability, making an important contribution to improving corporate practices nationwide,” said Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
“Today we received a wonderful gift to mark Chemist’s Day, the professional holiday for many thousands of PhosAgro employees. Every one of our employees made an important contribution to this victory, by doing their job with exceptional professionalism and ensuring food security in the country and around the world. Consistent increases in the output of our eco-efficient products have enabled us not only to break production records every year but also to make additional social commitments. As a result, last year we increased funding for social and charitable projects by nearly 150%, to RUB 12.9 billion. In addition, we increased our tax payments by 50%, to more than RUB 59 billion,” said PhosAgro CEO Mikhail Rybnikov in thanking the competition’s organising committee for recognising the Company’s achievements.
The organising committee evaluated the activities of Russian business in 2022, a record-setting year for PhosAgro, with its output of mineral fertilizers and feed phosphates reaching 11.1 million tonnes (up nearly 5% from 2021). The Company also set a new record for capex, investing RUB 63 billion (a third more than in 2021) in its own development. PhosAgro indexed the salaries of its employees by 29% in 2022–2023, while the average salary increased by more than 40%. PhosAgro also pays annual bonuses for professional holidays – Chemist’s Day and Miner’s Day. This year, a bonus of RUB 50 thousand will be paid to all PhosAgro Group employees for Chemist’s Day, while veterans of the Company’s production sites will receive RUB 10 thousand. Some RUB 1.5 billion will be allocated for these purposes.
The RUIE awarded the Grand Prix for the first time in 2016, when PhosAgro was recognised as the winner “for its impressive growth rate and socially responsible business practices across the entire range of categories”. The Grand Prix was not awarded in the 2017 or 2018 competitions, but PhosAgro was named the winner in the categories for dynamic business development, for environmental responsibility and for achievements in the area of occupational health and worker safety. The Grand Prix was awarded for the second time in the history of the competition in 2019, once again to PhosAgro, which was named the winner in more than half the categories. In the 2020 competition, the Grand Prix was awarded to Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works; PhosAgro was named the winner in the categories for environmental responsibility and for the best international project, as well as in a special category for best practices for ensuring the safety of workers and counterparties amid the spread of the novel coronavirus. The Grand Prix for the 2021 competition was awarded to Sistema and Sakhalin Energy.
The decision to award the 2022 Grand Prix to PhosAgro on the basis of total number of nominations took into account the Company’s steady production growth, increased labour productivity, implementation of a personnel training and development programme, significant investments in and the scale of its environmental protection projects, the excellent social safety net for employees guaranteed by collective bargaining agreements, the Company’s active participation in social and economic development programmes in the regions and municipalities where it operates, and the scale of the charitable programmes carried out in accordance with its social responsibility strategy.