Monsanto Names Greubel President For Brazil Operations 

Dow Jones Newswire 28jun01

SAO PAULO --  U.S. agribusiness and biotechnology giant Monsanto Co. (MON) has named Richard Greubel the new president of its Brazil operations, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Greubel will be replacing Gustavo Leite, who will stepping down from his post at the helm of Monsanto do Brasil Ltda. at the end of June.

Greubel, who has been with Monsanto for 17 years, has been in charge of the company's Southeast Asia operations since January 1999.

Prior to his Asian stint, Greubel was director of marketing for Monsanto's South American operations from 1996 to 1999, based in Buenos Aires.

While in Argentina, Greubel was a key player in the company's successful campaign to obtain approval for the sale of genetically modified soy, corn and cotton seeds.

Greubel will face a similar challenge in Brazil, where Monsanto is embroiled in a two-year legal battle that has kept the company from selling its genetically-engineered Roundup Ready soybean seeds.

Two separate court orders currently prohibit the production and sale of genetically-modified agricultural products in Brazil, but Monsanto is hoping it will obtain authorization from the country's National Commission for Bio Safety, or CTNBio, before the end of the year.

In January, Monsanto announced it was investing $550 million in an industrial plant located in the northeastern state of Bahia to make components used the Roundup herbicide. The new plant is scheduled to start operating later this year and will be Monsanto's largest industrial plant outside the U.S.