At the Forum of Russian and Brazilian Entrepreneur Councils, Andrey Guryev proposes the creation of a joint carbon exchange
MOSCOW, February 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — At a forum of Russian and Brazilian business councils, Andrey Guryev, Chairman of the Russia-Brazil Business Council and CEO of PhosAgro, proposed the creation of a joint carbon exchange and invited his counterparts Brazilians to join the Green Club of producers of agricultural products free of harmful substances.
The Forum took place on February 15, the day before a meeting between the Russian President Vladimir Poutine and Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro. The Forum brought together heads of state and civic organizations from both countries as well as representatives of the Russian and Brazilian business communities. They discussed the current state of trade and economic relations between the countries as well as promising projects, the implementation of which will give new impetus to the development of trade and investment cooperation between Russia and Brazil.
“Our Forum seems particularly valuable and timely, as it takes place on the sidelines of an official visit by the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. I’m convinced that from Brazil will return from his visit with a broad portfolio of concrete trade proposals from both countries, including following the exchange of views at today’s Forum,” said Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneursin his introductory remarks.
Andrey Guryev, Chairman of the Russia-Brazil Entrepreneurs Council and CEO of PhosAgrocentered in his remarks on the significant growth in bilateral trade between Russia and Brazil in 2021.
“A third of all Russian trade with Latin America is with Brazil, our key partner in the region. The pandemic and lockdowns around the world caused a slight drop in bilateral trade in 2020. But we have largely overcome this crisis. Immediately, in 2021, exchanges between Russia and Brazil increased by 87% for $7.5 billion“, Mr. Gouriev said.
He added that mineral fertilizers were Russia main export to Brazil. For example, PhosAgro, one of the world’s leading producers of phosphate-based fertilizers, supplied nearly 1.6 million tonnes of product to Brazil last year, a third more than the previous year. This was the largest quantity of PhosAgro fertilizer supplied to Brazil over the past 10 years.
Mr. Guryev, vice-president of the Russian-Brazilian Intergovernmental Commission, proposed the creation of a working group on carbon neutrality.
“Russia and Brazil represent 32% of the world’s forests. It means that Russia and Brazil are the de facto “lungs” of modern industrial civilization as well as the world leaders in carbon sequestration. It would be logical to form a working group made up of eminent scientists from Russia and Brazil, as well as regulatory agencies, to develop and validate a methodology to track carbon sequestration in Russian and Brazilian forests. The goal would be to create a mechanism to monetize carbon sequestration on a global scale.
“This could lead to the creation of a common carbon trading platform with the aim of providing carbon credits to other carbon-emitting countries. The new Development Bank could serve as a base for the initiative. I suggest that Russia and Brazil working together on science and business fronts to show that they have a negative carbon footprint despite their mature industries. Given the possibility of carbon regulation in the EU, the US and later in other countries around the world, this would give us an additional competitive advantage,” Guryev said in his remarks.
The CEO of PhosAgro noted that, in the context of agriculture – the driving force behind Russia and from Brazil expand trade – it is important to jointly develop and apply technologies for soil carbon sequestration. Furthermore, Brazil was invited to join the Green Club, a newly formed group of countries using eco-efficient fertilizers to grow crops free of hazardous substances. The Brazilian side of the Entrepreneurs Council backed the recommendations, which are to be submitted to President Bolsonaro today when he meets with Russian business representatives.
The President of the Council of Entrepreneurs Brazil-Russia, Marcos Molinacalled Russia and Brazil “leading countries” in the world community, which places a special responsibility on both of them for the development of bilateral relations.
“First of all, relying on the business communities of the two countries in various fields, in agriculture, in the pharmaceutical industry, we have full responsibility to develop and strengthen our relations, since we have all the opportunities and all the tools at our disposal for this, ” says Mr. Molina.
Alexander YakovenkoRector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Foreign Ministry, focusing on the importance of President Bolsonaro’s visit in terms of developing relations between the two countries. According to him, this event, including the Forum des Conseils des Entrepreneurs de Russia and Brazil, which was timed to coincide with the meeting of the leaders of the two countries, brought together in one place a “critical mass” of people capable of taking bilateral relations to a new level. Yakovenko also stressed the importance of political support for the work of councils of entrepreneurs in Russia and Brazil from the governments of both countries.
“I see this as a guarantee of successful work in resolving these issues that will facilitate the development of trade and economic relations and political relations between our two countries,” Yakovenko stressed.
Vladimir Ilyichev, chairman of the Russian part of the Russian-Brazilian Intergovernmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperationwelcomed the fact that from 2021, bilateral trade was on a path of sustainable growth.
At the same time, he noted that the potential for economic cooperation was still far from being fully exploited: “The current level of trade between Russia and Brazil does not exhaust the capacity of our countries’ economies, so it is necessary to increase trade volumes by diversifying counter-deliveries and increasing the share of high value-added products, while intensifying our project activities.
In addition, Mr. Ilyichev expressed hope for a constructive dialogue with Brazil to remove existing trade barriers that hinder the development of cooperation.
Augusto PestanaPresident of the Brazilian Export Development AgencyApex Brasil, highlighted the importance of joint trade and investment projects for the development of economic cooperation between Russia and Brazil. He noted that cooperation in the field of agriculture is fundamental here, and also stressed the importance of implementing projects in the field of infrastructure and energy. According to him, we must start from the strategic orientations of relations, which, in particular, will be determined during the visit of Brazilian President Bolsonaro.
“It is also important to note the work of the two presidents of the Councils of Entrepreneurs Russia-Brazil and Brazil-Russia: Mr. Andrei Guriev and M. Marcos Molina. They determine the size and scope in which our economic development and cooperation will expand,” Mr. Pestana said.
Veronika NikishinaCEO of Russian Export Center (REC)stressed the importance of supporting Russian export-oriented companies operating abroad, including in Latin America. She said insurance coverage was provided in 2021 to exporters in this sector which enabled them to ship products to Brazil with deferred payments of $892.6 million. This is short-term receivables insurance, which allows companies to reduce the risk of non-payment by a foreign buyer.
“Our KPI is to help exports, and we are very interested in expanding the arsenal of support measures that will be requested by Russian exporters and their Brazilian buyers. We wish success to all, and we want the export records increase considerably in the years to come”, declared the head of the REC.
Konstantin SavenkovDeputy Head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillanceexpressed Russia’s interest in diversifying reciprocal supplies and balancing trade with Brazil. As a result of efforts over many years, he said, Russia obtained the right to supply agricultural products to the Brazilian market. At the same time, he called on Russian producers to increase grain supplies for Brazilsince volumes are still well below their maximum potential.
Vladimir PadalkoVice President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russian Federation, called for further acceleration of the expansion of trade and economic cooperation. In particular, he proposed to organize a conference for Russian companies wishing to enter the Brazilian market alongside the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission scheduled for this year.
About Us
PhosAgro (www.phosagro.ru) is one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of high quality phosphate and phosphate rock fertilizers with a P2O5 content of 39% and more. Environmentally friendly fertilizers from PhosAgro are distinguished by their high efficiency and do not lead to soil contamination with heavy metals.
The Company is the largest producer of phosphate-based fertilizers in Europe (by total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39%, one of the world’s top three producers of MAP/DAP, one of the main producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europeand the only producer in Russiaand Russia only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to the RFPA).
PhosAgro’s main products include phosphate rock, more than 50 fertilizer grades, feed phosphates, ammonia and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in 100 countries covering all inhabited continents of the world. The Company’s priority markets outside of Russia and the IEC are Latin America, Europe and Asia.
PhosAgro shares are traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange and Global Certificates of Deposit (GDR) for the shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (under the symbol PHOR). Because June 1, 2016the Company’s GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indices.
More information about PhosAgro can be found on the website: www.phosagro.ru.
SOURCE PhosAgro
