Fertilizer International 507 Mar-Apr 2022
31 March 2022
People
People
The inclusion of several high-profile Russian business leaders on an EU sanctions list in March has led to round of high-level resignations from leading Russian fertilizer producers.
EuroChem Group announced that its owner Andrey Melnichenko had resigned from its board of directors and had also withdrawn as the company’s “main beneficiary” with effect from 9th March.
“The move follows Mr Melnichenko’s inclusion in an EU sanctions list, and was taken to ensure EuroChem is able to continue providing millions of people around the world with nutrients for agriculture, helping to underpin global food security,” EuroChem said in a statement.
Uralchem JSC also announced changes to its ownership structure on 10th March. Dmitry Mazepin, who previously held a 100 percent stake in parent company Ural-chem Fundamentals LLC, has reduced his ownership to a non-controlling 48 percent holding. He also resigned as CEO of Ural-chem to be replaced by Dmitry Konyaev, previously the chair of Uralchem’s board of directors. Former deputy chair Dimitry Tatyanin was named as Uralchem’s new chair.
PJSC PhosAgro’s board of directors accepted the resignation of Andrey A Guryev as CEO on 10th March and announced the appointment of Mikhail Rybnikov as his replacement. At the same time, three individuals, Xavier Rolet, Andrey A Guryev and Andrey G Guryev, also stepped down as directors of the company.
Thorsten Boeckers left his role as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of German-headquartered potash and salt producer K+S at the end of February. Christian Meyer will become the company’s new CFO in spring 2023. Until then, the chairman of K+S Burkhard Lohr is taking on the role on a transitional basis.
“We would like to thank Mr Boeckers for his work over the past years. During his service on the board of executive directors, he successfully contributed to the reduction of debt and the restructuring of the company. We wish Mr Boeckers all the best for the future, both in his professional and private life,” said Andreas Kreimeyer, chairman of K+S’s supervisory board.
Dr Kreimeyer added: “We are looking forward to working with Dr Meyer. He is a renowned financial expert with many years of experience as an auditor and tax advisor. We welcome him as a future member of the board of executive directors in the K+S team.”
In a change of leadership at Anglo American’s Woodsmith project, Tom McCulley is the new CEO of Crop Nutrients. He replaces Chris Fraser who, after 12 years of leading the UK-based polyhalite project, stepped aside in January to take on a strategic projects role at Anglo American.
The change was made following Wood-smith’s integration into Anglo American and ahead of the full project execution phase. McCulley previously led the development of Anglo’s Quellaveco copper project in Peru.
Mark Cutifani, Anglo American’s CEO, said: “We are enormously grateful to Chris Fraser for his founding vision over some 12 years in bringing Woodsmith to reality – a project with sustainability principles at the core of its design and in the product itself. His dedicated leadership in progressing the project this far and integrating it into our organisation, and doing so while making considerable construction progress during the upheavals of the pandemic, also deserves enormous credit. As we move towards full project execution, it is a natural time for Chris to step into a new role and I’m pleased that we will benefit from his experience as he works with us on a number of strategic projects.”
Cutifani added: “I am delighted that Tom McCulley, currently CEO of Anglo American in Peru, who has so skilfully steered our Quellaveco copper project to a point of pre-commissioning, on time and on budget, will now lead the development of Woodsmith as CEO of our Crop Nutrients business. I am confident that Tom and his team will finalise our plans and then deliver the project we all envisage safely and with great precision.”
