Singapore – The management of PhosAgro Group took part in the rite of consecration of the foundation stone of a Russian Orthodox church and a Russian cultural centre in Singapore.
The ceremony to mark the laying of the foundation stone of a Russian cultural centre and the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, which was included as part of the programme for the visit of Russia's head of state to Singapore and timed to coincide with the Russia-ASEAN summit and the Eastern European Partnership summit, was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin and the President of the Republic of Singapore, Halimah Yacob.
According to President Putin, “Singapore is an important and promising partner for Russia in the Asia-Pacific region. ... The relations that have developed between us are truly based on mutual respect and trust. This was also confirmed by today's ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the first Russian cultural centre and Orthodox church here in Singapore. I am confident that this gesture and the subsequent construction of this centre will serve as a good basis for the development of bilateral relations, especially at the level of the people who will come here to Singapore, more and more, who will learn about your country and who will have the opportunity to visit the Russian Orthodox Church and our cultural centre. And the citizens of Singapore will have an opportunity to learn about the culture of the Russian Federation.”
The rite of consecration was led by the administrator of the Moscow Patriarchate parishes in East and South-East Asia, Archbishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk, Vicar of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
With the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, PhosAgro and the Guryev family, benefactors of the Orthodox Church, will take responsibility for the adornment of the first Orthodox church in Singapore.
“We have provided comprehensive support to the Russian Orthodox Church for building and restoring churches in Russia and abroad. This is a great honour for our family and for PhosAgro,” said PhosAgro CEO Andrey A. Guryev following the rite of consecration, which was led by Archbishop Sergiy of Solnechnogorsk.
PhosAgro Group opened its first foreign trading company, PhosAgro Asia, in Singapore exactly five years ago. Since its very first day of operations, it has been assisting the Parish of the Assumption of the Mother of God in Singapore.
In addition to the ceremony to lay the foundation stone for the Russian cultural centre, where the first Orthodox church in Singapore will also be built, the leadership of PhosAgro Group took part in a state reception on behalf of President of Singapore Halimah Yakob in honour of Russian President Vladimir Putin. A production meeting was held at the PhosAgro Asia office, where it was noted that, over the past five years, PhosAgro Group has increased its annual supply of products to the countries of South-East Asia by more than 60% to 600,000 tonnes and that it intends to strengthen its presence in the promising Asian market. Discussions were also held with several of PhosAgro Group's business partners.
PhosAgro supports Russian cultural and spiritual sites on a regional, federal and international basis. In Russia, the Company assists with the restoration and construction of Orthodox churches, the revival of Sunday schools and the strengthening of spiritual education. In particular, Company employees have supported the building of the temple complex and Cathedral of the Venerable Athanasius and Theodosius of Cherepovets (Cherepovets, Vologda region) and the Church of the Miraculous Image of the Lord Jesus Christ the Saviour (Kirovsk, Murmansk region), the renovation of the Holy Trinity Temple (Balakovo, Saratov region), the establishment of a Sunday school at the Temple of the Venerable Athanasius and Theodosius of Cherepovets and the restoration of a Sunday school at the Church of the Holy Prophet Elijah (Abakanovo, Vologda region).
PhosAgro has also been reviving the tradition of building factory churches. Five churches have already been built and consecrated at the Company's enterprises and holiday resorts for Company employees in Cherepovets, Balakovo and Kirovsk. The construction of five more churches has begun in Moscow, Volkhov, Cherepovets and at the Company’s processing plant and mine in the Murmansk region.
In Moscow, on the grounds of PhosAgro’s headquarters, the Company, with the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, is building a chapel in honour of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra in Lycia. The memorial chapel marks a historic event: in 2017, part of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were brought to Russia from the Italian city of Bari.
Thanks to the efforts of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill in 2017, it was made possible to transfer part of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to Russia from the Italian city of Bari. The relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker had not left Bari since being brought to the city 930 years earlier. Thanks to agreements reached with the Roman Catholic Church, 2.5 million believers from Russia and other countries were able to bow before the holy relics. For two months, the relics were displayed at the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow and at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg. PhosAgro and the Guryev family played a significant role in this unique event in modern history.
With the blessing of His Holiness Kirill, PhosAgro has been organising pilgrimages to the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker for believers from Russia twice a year for more than seven years.
PhosAgro's management has received a number of awards from the Russian Orthodox Church for their charitable work.