PhosAgro is a Russian chemical holding company producing fertilizer, phosphates and feed phosphates. The company is based in Moscow, Russia, and its subsidiaries include Apatit, a company based in the Murmansk Region and engaged in the extraction of apatite rock. Phosagro is one of the world’s leading producers of phosphate-based fertilisers. The Company is Europe’s largest producer of phosphate-based fertilisers, the world’s largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock and the world’s second largest producer of MAP and DAP, Russia’s only producer of feed monocalcium phosphate, and also the sole producer of nepheline concentrate in Russia. In 2016, PhosAgro was ranked as among the 17th best out of 92 oil, gas, and mining companies on indigenous rights and resource extraction in the Arctic.
Ownership history
The original owner of Phosagro's assets was now exiled Russian billionaire Mikhail Khodorkovsky's via his company, Menatep. In 2003, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was arrested for tax evasion and fraud and the charges against him were ostensibly connected to Menatep's purchase of shares in Apatit. However, many also saw the charges as punishment for publicly clashing with Vladimir Putin. During Khordorkovsky's trial, the state seized Menatep's stake Apatit. In 2004, Andrey Guryev, who at the time ran Apatit on behalf of Khordorkovsky's Manatep and was also a Russian senator, wrote a message to Khordorkovsky in prison to convince him to sell his remaining 50% stake in Phosagro to Guryev. Khordorkovsky allegedly sold his shares to Guryev for a low price. In July 2011, Phosagro raised $538 million in a London IPO. In 2012, Phosagro paid $344 million at a state tender to buy backa 26.7% share in Apatit, bringing the company's ownership to 76%. As of 2012, Andrey Guryev and his family owned 65.47% of Phosagro via various trusts. PhosAgro is 19.35% owned by Vladimir Litvinenko, who oversaw Vladimir Putin's doctoral thesis in 1996.
In June 2017, Igor Sychev, a former head of tax department of Phosagro, presented a claim against Phosagro to the London High Court of Justice. In his claim he demanded 1% of the company’s shares or their value in cash. According to Sychev's statement, the conflict started after he didn't receive the agreed remuneration for defending Phosagro's interests in court. The defendants in the London court case are Andrey Guryev, PhosAgro's Vice president of the Board of directors, and another member of the board Igor Antoshin, together with some offshore companies based in Seychelles and Belize. A London judge has given permission to open proceedings against the defendants. In October 2019, another lawsuit was launched against Phosagro in the London High Court. Alexander Gorbachev, a Russian businessman and former senior executive at Phosagro, is suing the company for what he alleges is his rightful share of the business, a stake that is worth £1 billion at today’s market value. The full trial will be heard in the High Court in 2020-2021.
