UNESCO/PhosAgro/IUPAC Green Chemistry Grants Awarded

For Immediate Release 22 September 2014 PRESS RELEASE First UNESCO/PhosAgro/IUPAC Grants to Talented Young Scientists for Research inthe Area of Green Chemistry Awarded Today in Moscow Today the first grants under a green chemistry programme launched by UNESCO,the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry ("IUPAC") and PhosAgro tosupport research in the areas of environmental protection and human health,were awarded to young scientists from around the world. Grants were awarded to: * Dr. Thibault Cantat (France) for "Sustainable synthesis of methylated amines and phosphines from carbon dioxide" * Mostafa Gasser (Egypt) for "Development of optical sensors for heavy metals determination in drinking water" * Juan Carlos Rodriguez-Reyes (Peru) for "Materials chemistry as a critical tool for greener mining activities: Decreasing the use of cyanide by unravelling the physical-chemical properties of depleted minerals" * Anastasia Hubina (Ukraine) for "Polysaccharide-based membranes for fuel cells" * Professor Ning Yan (China) for "Towards Ocean Based Biorefinery: Harnessing Shellfish Derived Chitin for Pyrrole and Acetic Acid via Hydrothermal Conversion" * Dr. Sharifah Rafidah Wan Ali (Malaysia) for "Study of papaya peel waste as adsorbent for efficient lead (ii) removal from wastewater" The awards ceremony took place at the PhosAgro/UNESCO/IUPAC InternationalSymposium for Green Chemistry in the Y. V. Samoilov Scientific ResearchInstitute for Fertilizers and Insectofungicides (a subsidiary of PhosAgro),with support from the Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO. Grant winnerswere warmly welcomed by participants of the Symposium, including Acad. V. E.Fortov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vice-Chairperson of theRussian Federation Commission for UNESCO, G.E. Ordhzonikidze, Deputy Directorof the Department for International Organisations of the Ministry of ForeignAffairs and Executive Secretary of the Russian Federation Commission forUNESCO, Prof. M. Nalecz, Director of the Division of Science Policy andCapacity Building, UNESCO, Prof. N. Moreau, Member of the Executive Committeeof the International Council for Science ("ICSU"), former President of IUPAC,and Prof. J. Corish, Treasurer, IUPAC. The joint UNESCO and PhosAgro Green Chemistry for Life project, which is beingimplemented in close cooperation with IUPAC, was launched on 29 March 2013 atthe UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France. The goal of the partnership is toharness the talents of young scientists to promote advances in green chemistryand its contribution to environmental safety through innovations that help tominimize or prevent environmental and health hazards, as well as thedevelopment of energy-efficient processes and the introduction of newenvironmentally-sound technologies. The project provides financial support to promising young scientists fromaround the world who are working on developing and finding applications for newtechnologies using modern chemistry to address issues related to environmentalprotection and human health, food supply and use of environmental resources.Project applications were evaluated and selected by and internationalscientific jury headed by Prof. Maceij Nalecz, Director, Division of ScientificPolicy and Capacity Building, UNESCO. This is the first initiative in UNESCO's and the UN's long histories that isbeing carried out as an extra-budgetary project with support from a Russianbusiness. PhosAgro, one of the world's largest producers of phosphate-basedfertilizers, has committed USD 1.4 million over five years to finance the mostpromising research proposals from young scientists. Since its initial phasethis initiative is being encouraged and supported by the Russian FederationMinistry of Foreign Affairs and the Commission of Russian Federation forUNESCO. Professor Maciej Nalecz said: "Many countries are experiencing an acute needfor the development of scientific research capacity in the area of greenchemistry, and in the application of the results of research activities forenvironmental protection and implementing environmentally safe technologies.For this reason we were overjoyed to accept PhosAgro's initiative to supportyoung scientists as a sign of business participating in finding solutions toglobal problems. I am sure that today marks the start of a new page in thehistory of chemistry, environmental protection and human health throughout theworld." Professor Nicole Moreau, member of the Executive Board of the ICSU and formerpresident of IUPAC said: "`Green Chemistry' describes the philosophy ofresearch and engineering to develop and manufacture products that make minimaluse of harmful substances and likewise produce minimal amounts of harmfulby-products. This project illustrates that the most progressive members ofRussia's business community recognise their responsibility for the wellbeing ofboth today's and future generations. I believe that other Russian companieswill follow PhosAgro's example and make their contribution to tackling today'schallenges within the UNESCO mandate." "The Green Chemistry for Life project is an example of how science and industrycan work together to reduce the impact on the environment," said VladimirFortov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "For many scientists thecompetition is an opportunity to put into practice their unique knowledge andto gain support for the subsequent development of their chosen researchtopics." The PhosAgro/UNESCO/IUPAC International Jury for Green Chemistry, whichincludes renowned members of the international scientific community andrepresentatives of leading R&D centres from Africa, Europe, North America andSouth-East Asia, met to consider the grant applications at UNESCO'sheadquarters in May this year. The Jury considered 110 receivable andscientifically sound applications from around the world, and selected the sixmost deserving applications to receive grants. The jury's next session isplanned for spring of 2015. "Today we are making awards to the authors of six scientific projects of thejoint PhosAgro-UNESCO-IUPAC programme. Young scientists from France, Ukraine,Egypt, Peru, Malaysia and China will receive the financial support to help thembring their projects to life, and their work will help to tackle specificenvironmental issues. All of our winners have in common a drive to make ourplanet cleaner, and to improve life for all its inhabitants. I believe thatthanks to such projects and such talented researchers, we will be able to findeffective mechanisms to secure production and environmental security at aglobal and national level," said Andrey Guryev, CEO of PhosAgro and member ofthe Russian Federation Commission for UNESCO. For further information please contact: OJSC PhosAgro Irina Evstigneeva, Head of Corporate Finance and Investor [email protected]+7 495 231 3115 Timur Belov, Press Officer+7 495 232 9689 EM Sam [email protected]: +44 7554 993 032t: +7 499 918 3134 Notes to Editors PhosAgro is one of the leading global vertically integrated phosphate-basedfertilizer producers. The Company focuses on the production of phosphate-basedfertilizers, feed phosphate and high-grade phosphate rock (P2O5 content of notless than 39%), as well as ammonia and nitrogen-based fertilizers. The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe, thelargest producer of high-grade phosphate rock worldwide and the second largestMAP/DAP producer in the world (excluding China), according to Fertecon.PhosAgro is also one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) inEurope, and the only producer in Russia. PhosAgro has 2.1 billion tonnes of resources (according to JORC) of highquality apatite-nepheline ore. The Company's mines and phosphate rockproduction facilities are located in the mountainous areas of the KolaPeninsula in the Murmansk region of northwest Russia, whereas its fertilizerand feed phosphate production assets are located near the city of Cherepovetsin the Vologda region and near the city of Balakovo in the Saratov region ofsouthwest part of European Russia. PhosAgro's 2013 IFRS revenue was over USD 3.3 bln and EBITDA was USD 752 mln.The Сompany's net debt/EBITDA ratio was 1.8 at 31 December 2013.

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