The Federation Council on Wednesday prematurely terminated the powers of Andrei Guryev, a senator from the Murmansk region, owner of the Phosagro holding.

The Federation Council on Wednesday prematurely terminated the powers of the senator from the Murmansk region, owner of the Phosagro holding, Andrei Guryev (No. 28 in the ranking of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia , net worth: $4 billion), RIA Novosti reports . 147 senators voted in favor, one was against, and there were no abstentions.

“It’s a shame that he’s leaving, but this is his decision, and it deserves respect,” said Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, commenting on Guryev’s decision.

Andrey Guryev, in turn, said that after almost 12 years of work in the upper house of parliament, he considers it right to use the accumulated experience in the interests of developing the domestic chemical industry.

“I made my decision after consultations with the governor of the Murmansk region Marina Kovtun. We proceed from the fact that they will continue to benefit the Arctic region, but in a different capacity,” Guryev said.

The fact that billionaire Andrei Guryev submitted an application to resign was announced on Wednesday morning by the deputy chairman of the committee on rules of the upper house of parliament, Andrei Panteleev. According to him, in his statement Guryev did not indicate the reason for his decision.

Andrey Guryev and members of his family are beneficiaries of trusts that control, through Cypriot companies, the largest Russian producer of phosphate fertilizers, Phosagro. Guryev is 53 years old. Before becoming a senator, he was the chairman of the board of directors of OJSC Apatit (Murmansk region), the main asset of the Phosagro holding, which supplies it with raw materials. Member of the United Russia party. He has served as a senator since 2001.

After the decision was made to prohibit senators from having accounts and real estate abroad, several parliamentarians from the upper house resigned. left the Federation Council In February, Nikolai Olshansky (No. 139 in the ranking of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia , net worth: $0.75 billion) ; at the end of March, Vitaly Malkin (No. 125 in the ranking of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia , net worth: $0.85 billion) left the Federation Council. in April - Andrey Molchanov (No. 65 in the ranking of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia , fortune - $1.65 billion). Another billionaire senator, Suleyman Kerimov (No. 20 in the ranking of the 200 richest businessmen in Russia , net worth: $7.1 billion) announced in May that he would transfer his assets to the Suleyman Kerimov Foundation and remain in the Federation Council.

In total, the Forbes ranking of the richest businessmen in Russia in 2013 (as of May 13) includes 23 officials and parliamentarians, including four senators.

Billionaire Andrei Guryev surrendered his senatorial mandate