Russian Railways and PhosAgro signed the new cooperation agreement

The Government of the Saratov region, Russian Railways (RZD) and PhosAgro have signed a cooperation agreement. The document was signed by Roman Busargin, Vice Governor of the Saratov region, Sergey Almeev, Head of the Volga Railway, and Andrey Shibnev, Director of the Balakovo branch of Apatit (part of PhosAgro).

The agreement aims at promoting the economic growth of the Saratov region and the development of partnership relations between Russian Railways and the Balakovo branch of Apatit. With the growing needs of the enterprise in raw materials and taking into account the potential increase in the output of mineral fertilizers and feed phosphates, it’s necessary to develop the railway and logistics infrastructure. The cargo turnover of the company is growing year by year. In 2015 it was 4.4 million tons (raw materials and finished products), while in 2021 it reached almost 7 million tons.

“PhosAgro and the Volga Railway are reliable partners of our region. It’s great that the signed agreement will soon help to increase the volume of shipped products by 33%,” said Roman Busargin.

“The agreement allows us to rationally use the railway infrastructure of the Saratov region. We become integrated into the technological process. Its efficiency depends on the work of the railway transport, which provides 90.5% of the freight turnover,” noted Sergey Almeev.

The Balakovo branch of Apatit is a strategically important asset of PhosAgro due to its proximity to the main agricultural regions of the country. 20 years ago the enterprise produced only 500 thousand tons of ammophos per year, while today the Balakovo branch of Apatit outputs over 2.3 million tons of products, including 1.8 million tons of mineral fertilizers. Further development will be impossible without improving the adjacent infrastructure,” said Alexander Gilgenberg, General Director of Apatit.