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People

Ben Pratt joined Mosaic’s senior leadership team at the start of April, having been appointed senior vice president (SVP) for government and public affairs. He was previously the company’s vice president for corporate public affairs, with responsibility for corporate communications, social responsibility and US federal government relations.

“Ben has brought tremendous value to Mosaic over the past eight years,” said Joc O’Rourke, Mosaic’s president and CEO. “He plays an integral role in maintaining our license to operate and Mosaic’s environmental, social and governance work, and he drives public affairs strategies that contribute to Mosaic’s long-term success.”

Mr Pratt was SVP for corporate communications at Ameriprise Financial in Minneapolis immediately prior to joining Mosaic in 2012. Earlier in his career, he held a variety of communications and investor relations roles at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh, and at Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns, both in New York.

Worley has appointed Chris Ashton as its new CEO and managing director, following the retirement of Andrew Wood from these roles. Chris has held many leadership roles at Worley since joining the company in 1998. He was the company’s chief operating officer (COO) immediately prior to becoming CEO. Mr Ashton holds an MBA from Cranfield School of Management and an electrical and electronic engineering degree from the University of Sunderland. He is also a graduate of Harvard Business School’s executive management programme.

Commenting on his appointment, Chris said: “It is a great privilege to assume the leadership of this great company. The next decade will see unprecedented change in the energy, chemicals and resources industries which we serve. Our customers are being driven by having to address two fundamental structural disruptions – the energy transition and changes resulting from the adoption of digital processes.”

Worley’s chairman John Grill paid tribute to the outgoing CEO: “Andrew Wood has had a distinguished career with Worley spanning 26 years, with the last seven as our CEO. His contribution has been fundamental to creating the global company we are today. Under Andrew’s strong leadership, we successfully restructured Worley… and then doubled the size of the business through the acquisition of the Energy, Chemicals and Resources (ECR) division of Jacobs. The board and management thank Andrew for his significant and valuable contribution to Worley and wish him well in his retirement.”

Nirlep Singh Rai is the new technical director of National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), having previously been the company’s executive director. He has also been the CEO of Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL) for the past 18 months. RFCL is a prestigious joint venture between NFL, Engineers India Limited and the Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited. Nirlep Singh Rai, a graduate of Thapar University, has 35 years of professional fertilizer industry experience. This includes stints in charge of NFL’s Nan-gal production unit for more than two years, and heading technical services and projects at the Bathinda unit. His experience of largescale fertilizer plants includes technical services and their operation and maintenance.

Siroj Loikov has been made first deputy CEO of PhosAgro. He was previously the company’s deputy CEO in charge of international projects and personnel policy. In his new role, Siroj will act as a management coordinator at PhosAgro’s headquarters in Moscow, with particular responsibilities for Cherepovets and the company’s other production sites. He will also have control of priority development projects and will oversee the appointment, development and assessment of the company’s top management.

Evgeny Novitsky, also first deputy CEO at PhosAgro, will continue in his separate role, liaising between the company and government agencies. Mikhail Rybnikov, who has been separately appointed as an executive director, will focus on the integration of production, logistics and sales. He will also oversee the implementation of key IT projects and improvements in industrial safety standards and occupational health at PhosAgro.

Andrey Guryev, PhosAgro’s CEO, said: “Today, the company is facing external challenges that require a prompt response and serious international expertise. We have a great deal of work ahead of us to build new partnerships, to implement major international projects. Also on the agenda is inhouse projects to digitalise production and to restructure our occupational health and industrial safety functions. Meeting these challenges will require a great deal of commitment and attention. With this in mind, I decided to make some changes to the organisational structure and delegate some of my duties as CEO. I am confident that Siroj Loikov’s previous work experience in the company will help him succed.”