Russia and Brazil to strengthen business cooperation

Over the past five years, exports from Russia to Brazil have increased by a third, and the supply of mineral fertilizers is the driver of its growth, said Andrey Guryev, Chairman of the Russia-Brazil Business Council, a member of the Management Board of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and CEO of PhosAgro, during his speech at his meeting with Chief of Staff to Brazil’s President, Onyx Lorenzoni, and representatives of the Russian business community.

Mr Guriev, who also heads the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association (RFPA), pointed out that in 2018, the share of mineral fertilizers in the structure of Russian exports to Brazil amounted to 73%. PhosAgro itself shipped mineral fertilizers worth more than $ 400 million to Brazil, which made 16% of the total export from our country.

“The contribution that the mineral fertilizer industry makes to the bilateral turnover is largely ensured by the decision adopted in 2014 by the Council of Ministers of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Brazil to eliminate the 6% import tax on high-quality, environmentally friendly fertilizers produced in Russia, emphasized Andrey Guryev. – I want to thank the Brazilian authorities for this mutually beneficial solution. The choice in favor of green fertilizers gives Brazilian farmers an additional competitive advantage – the safety of their agricultural products for consumers”.

During the event, at which the Brazilian side presented investment opportunities in Brazil to the Russian business community, a memorandum on mutual support of export activities and attraction of investments was signed between the Russia-Brazil Business Council and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency.

Within the framework of the memorandum aimed at expanding trade and investment activities between the business circles of Brazil and Russia, the parties will promote the establishment of relations between enterprises, industry associations and chambers of commerce of the two countries. Interested local companies will be assisted in creating and expanding business inside the partner’s territory.

“Today we have signed a landmark agreement, which marks the resumption of an active dialogue between the business circles of the two countries. It lays the foundation for joint work on creating conditions for full access to the markets of Russia and Brazil for goods of manufacturers of the two countries,” noted Andrey Guryev. – I am sure that the partnership between the Russia-Brazil Business Council and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency will be fruitful. And its final beneficiary will be consumers who can buy high-quality, environmentally friendly products from Brazil and Russia at affordable prices”.