Business programme

BRICS countries play a key role in ensuring global food security, which will only take on greater importance in coming years. At present, they already account for more than one third of the world’s food output. BRICS nations produce more than 40% of all fertilizers on the planet, which helps provide food to more than four billion people. How can we maximize the efficiency of a unified agribusiness chain? What do we need to find new points of synergy between the agribusinesses of states that have friendly relations with Russia? What domestic trade barriers need to be eliminated to realize this potential? What alternative financial infrastructure needs to be created for seamless financial settlements? What challenges remain on the path to total food sovereignty for BRICS countries in the face of growing geopolitical tensions?

Moderator
Irina Abramova, Director, Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Irina Abramova

Director, Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Irina Abramova, Director of the Institute for African studies, member of the academy of sciences, Russia’s leading expert on Africa with 32 years of experience. She is the author of more than 200 research works published in Russia and abroad, including 9 major monographs, including Africa’s New Role in the XXI century Economy, African Population in the New Global Economy, Resource Potential of Africa and Russia’s National Interests in the XXI Century, African Migration: an Exercise in the Systems Analysis.
Dr. Abramova is a leading specialist of the Department of Global Problems and International Relations in the field of African economy and population. She is a member of the Scientific Council on Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Her systematic analysis of international migration problems in Africa between 2005 and 2016 wasn’t only a contribution to science but allowed for practical application. Her analytics are highly appreciated by executive offices. Dr. Abramova is a member of Council of Science at the Security Council of Russia,a regular speaker at the International Cambridge Symposium on Economic Crime (Cambridge, UK), member of the Politics group of St Petersburg Dialogue (Russia – Germany) expert of the Council of Europe on combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Her expertise is acknowledged by the publication of her works in the UK, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Araibic and African countries as well as her participation in over a 100 international.

Panellists
Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the Russian Federation
Andrey Guryev, President, Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAFP)
Gabriel Ibrahim Muhammad, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of the Republic of Sudan
Veronika Nikishina, General Director, Russian Export Center
Vasily Osmakov, First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation
Natalya Popova, First Deputy General Director, Innopraktika
Vitaliy Sergeychuk, Member of the Management Board, VTB Bank
Hala Helmy El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the Russian Federation

Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares, born in 1963, in Rio de Janeiro, is, since September 2021, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federative Republic of Brazil to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan.

He graduated in Law from the Centro de Ensino Universitário de Brasília (CEUB), in 1986, and concluded a Specialization Course in International Relations from the American University, Washington/DC, and a Post-Graduation in Public Administration from the National School of Administration in Paris.

He joined the Foreign Service in 1987 following a strict recruitment process and was promoted to the position of Ambassador in 2015. During his career, besides holding senior positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the Presidency of the Republic, he served in the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, in New York, and in the Brazilian embassies in Paraguay, France, and Argentina. He was also appointed ambassador of Brazil to Mozambique and Peru.

Abroad, he represented Brazil on several occasions as delegate and as head of delegation in international meetings and negotiations and taught as guest professor at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris ("Sciences-Po") and at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina. He was decorated, among others, with the Order of Rio Branco - Brazil, Ordre du Mérite - France, Order of Infante D. Henrique - Portugal, and the Order of the Cedar - Lebanon.

Andrey Guryev

President, Russian Association of Fertilizer Producers (RAFP)

Andrey Guryev was appointed CEO by PhosAgro’s Board of Directors starting 1 August 2013. Prior to becoming CEO, he served as Deputy CEO of OJSC PhosAgro from April 2011. He was also Deputy CEO for Sales and Logistics of PhosAgro AG from October 2011 to June 2013. From June 2013 to August 2013 Mr. Guryev was the COO of PhosAgro AG. Mr. Guryev has worked at PhosAgro since 2004, holding various positions in the finance department and specialising in fertilizer exports. Mr Guryev graduated from The University of Greenwich in London with a BA in economics, and holds a Master’s degree from the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation. He received a PhD in economics from the National Mineral Resources University (University of Mining).

Veronika Nikishina

General Director, Russian Export Center

Panel member (Minister) of commerce in Eurasian Economic Commission since February 2016.
Born 29 April 1968. PhD in Economics, presented a thesis on Managing the access of Russian goods to foreign markets in modern conditions.
Prior to appointment as member of Commission had held a position of assistant to the First Deputy of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation.
Veronika Nikishina held management positions in the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, including Deputy Director of the Department for Trade Negotiations, Head of the Department of American Countries and the Department for Coordination, Development and Regulation of Foreign Economic Activities.
After 17 years of working for the Ministry of Economic Development, Veronika Nikishina has extensive experience in identifying and eliminating various trade barriers, applying trade protection and veterinary, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, as well as experience in international negotiations.
Currently Veronika Nikishina supervises a number of key areas for the Eurasian Economic Union, such as customs tariff and non-tariff regulation, the establishment of preferential trade regimes with third countries (free trade area), and the application of protective measures by the Eurasian Economic Union.
From February 2020 - General Director, Russian Export Center.

Vasily Osmakov

First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation

Born June 8, 1983, Moscow. 2005: graduated from Moscow State University, Institute of Asian and African Studies.
2008: gained his CSc from the State University of Management in Moscow.
Career background: 2004–2008: Ministry of Industry and Energy: Head of Strategic Planning and Research Department; Assistant Administrator of Strategic Planning and Research Department; Assistant Administrator of Priority Projects Support under the Economic Analysis and Planning Division; Advisor to the Public Relations Department; Senior Expert of the PR Department. 2008–2012: Assistant and Advisor to the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
2012–2016: Director of Strategic Development and Project Management Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. 31 August 2016: appointed Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
Since 2015, Mr Osmakov has held the title of Full State Counsellor. CSc in Economics. Married with a child.

Natalya Popova

First Deputy General Director, Innopraktika

Natalia Popova, First Deputy СEO of the Non-State Development Institute “Innopraktika”, President of Vision Media Center LLC, graduated from Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation and the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies of Moscow State University. Natalia is a member of the Boards of Directors of ITECMA LLC, VEB Ventures LLC, also the Supervisory Boards of the INTC Composite Valley Foundation and MSP Bank JSC, as well as the Board of Trustees of the School Unit of the “Phystech XXI” cluster and the autonomous non-profit educational organization “Phystech-lyceum” named after P.L. Kapitsa. In addition, she is the chairman of the board of directors of IAC OJSC, the co-chairman of the Coordinating Council for the introduction of innovative Russian products into the production and economic activities of Gazprom. Natalia is a member of the Council for the Implementation of the Federal Scientific and Technical Program for the Development of Agriculture for 2017-2025; the working group which provide support to small and medium businesses in high-tech sectors of the economy, including those introducing innovations, implementing projects in the field of import substitution and (or) producing export products and services; to the Expert council for the development of financial instruments and non-financial measures to support enterprises of Russia's defense industry under the Commission of the State Duma on legal support for the development of organizations in the defense industry of Russia. Natalia is the originator and the host of Innopraktika media projects, including such projects as “Dom uchenyh” (lit.: The House of Scientists) in cooperation with “Kultura” TV channel, “Nauka” (lit.: Science) in cooperation with “Russia-24” TV channel, also a member of the committee for preparation and implementation of the global project "Russian Seasons". Since December 2019, Natalia Popova has been holding the position of the Ombudsman representing interests of high-tech leading companies, established on the Commissioner for Entrepreneurs' Rights at the President of the Russian Federation institution basis.

Vitaliy Sergeychuk

Member of the Management Board, VTB Bank

Hala Helmy El-Said

Minister of Planning and Economic Development of the Arab Republic of Egypt

Dr. Hala H. Elsaid was sworn in as Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development on December 22, 2019. Prior to this appointment, she served as the Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Administrative Reform between February 2017 and December 2019. Dr. Elsaid who also serves as Chair of The Sovereign Fund of Egypt is a prominent Economist and Academic Figure, recognized as the Best Arab Minister by the Arab Government Excellence Award in November 2020.
During her tenor, she led the implementation of the National Sustainable Development Strategy (Egypt Vision 2030) in partnership with bilateral and multilateral stakeholders, private sector and civil society in line with the UN Sustainable Development Strategy and the Africa 2063 Agenda. In 2021, Dr. Elsaid initiated the National Structural Reform Program with macro-sectoral reforms focusing on seven priority sectors that are labor intensive and have significant contribution in achieving economic growth and prosperity, supporting the transition to a green and circular economy. As Minister of Planning and Economic Development, she launched several programs for capacity building, gender inclusion and youth empowerment including the Women in Leadership Positions Program, the Leadership for Government Excellence Program and Rowad 2030 which aims to enable youth and support entrepreneurship and job creation.
She encourages the effective monitoring and evaluation of all policies and initiatives taking place to promote sustainable development through the development of policy trackers linked to the Sustainable Development Goals and the adoption of the National Strategy for Development of Statistics, to ensure administrative decisions are evidence based. In addition, she launched several academic contributions that include a wide range of internationally acclaimed research papers, studies and reports on various economic topics, most notably studies on financial and banking reform, international finance, privatization and economic reform, including the first Financing Sustainable Development in Egypt report, the first of its kind FfD report and a manual for Gender-Responsive Sustainable Development Planning.
Dr. Hala El-Said is a prominent female banking figure, serving as a member of the Central Bank's Board of Directors and as the Executive Director of the Egyptian Banking Institute for eight consecutive years, managing the Institute with a promising vision to establish a professional training arm for the Egyptian banking system that applies international best practices in the development of technical and administrative skills for financial and banking professionals in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa. During this period, she led a group of experts and consultants at the Institute to obtain international accreditation to become the first accredited banking and financial training institute in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region (2006 -2008).
Dr. Elsaid has also held several positions, including Advisor to the Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Central Bank's Anti-Money Laundering Unit, and a Member of the Board of Directors of the Arab African International Bank.
Dr. ElSaid received her PhD in Economics in 1989 with Highest Honors from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Cairo University. She was the first elected Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in 2011 and Cairo University’s Deputy President for Scientific Research and Exterior Relations from 2013 to 2016. Over her efficacious academic journey, her contributions in education, inclusion and youth empowerment pave the way to achieving sustainable development and economic growth.

Front row participants
Maxim Egorov, Head, Tambov Region
Oleg Kobyakov, Director, Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Karen Ovsepyan, Managing Director, New Land Grain Corridor Group of Companies

Maxim Egorov

Head, Tambov Region

23 May 1977 Born in the city of Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod)
1999 Studied at the Volga State University of Water Transport
1999–2000 Worked in the Department of Economics, Industry and Planning of the Administration of the Leninsky district, Nizhny Novgorod.
2000–2005 Worked in various capacities in the Nizhny Novgorod Open Joint Stock Power Engineering and Electrification Company ‘Nizhnovenergo’, from first category economist to deputy director for economics — head of economic planning department.
2005–2015 Worked in various capacities in the Federal Tariff Service, Moscow, from the head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Electricity Buyers and Schedule Development of the Electrical Industry Pricing Regulation and Control Administration to the Head of Administration.
2016–2018 Advisor to the Governor of the Tyumen Region of the Representative Office of the Government of the Tyumen Region in the Government of the Russian Federation, Moscow.
June 2018 — December 2018 Advisor to the Minister of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector of the Russian Federation.
From 29 December 2019 Appointed Deputy Minister of Construction Industry, Housing and Utilities Sector of the Russian Federation
On October 4, 2021, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the Acting Head of the Administration of the Tambov Region was appointed.

Awarded:
Honorary Diploma of the President of the Russian Federation
Honorary Diploma of the Government of the Russian Federation
Holds class rank: Full State Counsellor 1st Class of the Russian Federation
An Honoured worker of the Fuel and Energy Industry
An Honoured worker of Pricing and Tariff Regulation
Married with three sons

Oleg Kobyakov

Director, Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

Karen Ovsepyan

Managing Director, New Land Grain Corridor Group of Companies