New York, NY – Andrey Guryev, CEO of PhosAgro, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, has awarded the Norwegian Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen with the World Chess Champion trophy.
As he awarded the winner of the World Chess Championship, which was held in New York from 10 to 30 November 2016, PhosAgro CEO and Member of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Chess Federation Andrey Guryev said: “I am convinced we made the right choice when we decided to be the global partner for what was one of the most interesting World Championship Matches in history, between two exceptionally talented young grandmasters. It was a great honour to personally congratulate the winner and to award him the World Champion trophy. I hope that the hundreds of millions of people who followed the World Championship from all around the world, including using virtual reality technology, will be even more enthusiastic about the game of chess after this excellent showdown.
“Our Company shares a similar philosophy to that of chess, based on strategic thinking and calculating moves in order to stay ahead of competitors – and this approach has helped us to deliver excellent operating and financial results.
“As a member of the Supervisory Board of the Russian Chess Federation, I am confident that Sergey Karjakin’s participation in the Match will help to increase interest in the sport, especially among younger generations. PhosAgro opened several chess classes in schools we support in the regions where we operate during the World Championship because of increasing interest in the sport.
“I was very happy that the Russian grandmaster, in the best traditions of the Russian school of chess, was a worthy opponent thoughout the Match. There was no clear winner throughout the Match, and the contest between two absolutely equal opponents was decided only during the tie-breaker. Troughout the entire Match, Russia was joined by many others from around the world in its support for Segey: here in New York, we regularly saw fans wearing Karjakin t-shirts.
“In addition to supporting chess, sponsorship also helped to increase PhosAgro’s brand recognition, as well as expand our group potential investors and partners.”
In addition to chess, PhosAgro makes numerous contributions to Russia’s international sporting achievements. It has for many years been a partner of the Russian Olypmians Support Fund, the All-Russian Federation of Rythmic Gymnastics, the Moscow Federation of Rythmic Gymnastics, and the St. Petersburg Regional Judo Federation; the Company is also a sponsor of the Severyanka (Vologda region) and Proton-BAES (Saratov region) volleyball clubs, the Avtodor basketball club, and the Balakovo speedway team Turbina (Saratov region).