In line with its program meant to bring investment to the country’s chemical industry, the government of Russia is ready to pay subsidies to plastic product makers. What’s more, the cost of the effort is set to more than double by 2016. According to a decree issued by the Government, subsidies will be paid to chemical companies that have taken loans to fund investment projects. Under the state support scheme, companies with investment projects’ costs falling in the range of RUB 1.5 bn to 5 bn will be entitled to partial compensation of their interest payments. The requisite funds will be sourced from Russian lending institutions or from Vnesheconombank. The approved subsidy volume for 2014 is RUB 70.2 mn. In 2015, spending to the same end will reach RUB 168.5 mn, and as much as RUB 179.9 mn in 2016. At the same time, the subsidy paid in each case […]

According to the document titled ‘The Strategy of Chemical Industry Development in Russia until 2020’, plastic items make up the largest portion of Russia’s chemical imports, with 22% of the whole. The next biggest category is synthetic resins, with 19%. The paints-and-coatings category secures a 7% portion of the whole. When Russia’s exports are analyzed, two major product segments emerge: the mineral fertilizers, securing a 46% portion, and synthetic rubbers with an 8% share.

Vasily Nomokonov, a Managing Director at Sibur, gave a talk at the 21st World Petroleum Congress, describing the global challenges and opportunities faced by Russia’s petrochemistry field. Vasily Nomokonov pointed out that in the last 10 years the country’s petrochemical industry has been keeping ahead of the oil extraction field and the national GDP in terms of growth rate. Petrochemistry’s relative contribution to the GDP grew in this period, highlighting the field’s potential as one of the drivers of the country’s economy. In the years 2010-2013, Sibur’s investment totaled RUB 239 bn, or 78% of its EBITDA for this period. Experts estimate that Russia’s polymer demand will grow by an average of 8% each year in the near-term, based on the current per capita polymer consumption figure for the CIS countries, which is below 20% of the level registered for Germany and the US and is 33.3% less than that of […]

Norica Holding S.a.r.l (a subsidiary of OJSC Acron) has announced that it increased its stake in the share capital of Grupa Azoty, a Polish firm, to 20%. Commenting on the event, Acron Group’s Vice-President Vladimir Kantor said: “We have increased our shareholding in Grupa Azoty to 20% due to our high appreciation of the synergy potential actualized by the recent consolidation of Grupa Azoty’s assets and our comprehension of the cost-cutting and resource optimization possibilities ahead. On top of that, we rely on strategic partnership between Acron Group and Grupa Azoty as a relationship that will contribute to a stable and effective development of both companies. Acron Group has built a vertically-integrated business model starting from its own extracting capacity up to global logistical and marketing infrastructure, and can offer Grupa Azoty a wide range of options for mutually beneficial cooperation. Acron has been successfully developing a raw materials base […]

Thanks to the development of its oil and gas chemical industry, Russia will be able to stop importing base polymers by 2017, said the country’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak during a meeting of the Presidential Commission on FES (Fuel and Energy Sector). “One aspect of importance that allows a country’s FES to make gains in its development and its economic efficiency is the development of its oil and gas chemical industry. This process will allow us to stop importing base polymers, polypropylene and polyethylene very soon, as soon as by 2017.”

n the nearest future, a contract may be signed by Russia and China that would provide for the construction of a western pipeline branch running across the territory of the Siberian Federal District, Russia’s presidential administration chief Sergei Ivanov told journalists. “Considering the pace of China’s economic growth – a factor mentioned by the president – and the fact that the parties have come to terms regarding the price formula, chances are high that in the nearest future they would follow that up with the signing of a contract to build a western pipeline route whose path will lie entirely within the territory of the Siberian Federal District. This (deal) may be not as capital-intensive, but nobody doubts that its cost would run into tens of billions of dollars,” said he. Mr. Ivanov reminded that a portion of the eastern branch of the Power of Siberia pipeline will run through […]

At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, a meeting has taken place between Murmansk Oblast acting Governor Marina Kovtun and General Director of OJSC Phosagro Andrey Guryev, at which the issues of implementation of current as well as future projects were discussed. As was pointed out during the meeting, one of the factors limiting the development of new production sites in the Murmansk Oblast is the lack of industrial-scale natural gas deposits in the Kola Peninsula. It was initially thought that this deficit would be overcome with the launch of production from the Shtokman gas condensate field. At the current moment, a new project intended to deal with the deficit of natural gas in the Murmansk Oblast is under consideration. According to this initiative, put forward by the acting Governor Marina Kovtun and now due for discussion with OJSC Gazprom, a pipeline should be built across the Oblast’s border and […]

An agreement has been signed between China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.) and Sibur for the establishment of a joint venture that will produce 50 thousand tonnes of nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) per year at a site in the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, located 50 kilometers from Shanghai. Sinopec’s and Sibur’s shares in the JV will amount to 74.9% and 25.1% respectively. The parties have also signed a licensing agreement under which the new plant will make NBR using Sibur’s technology. Specialists from the Russian holding company will become employees of the JV and will play an active role in organizing the launch of the production process and overseeing the commercial-mode operation of the new facilities. “Last year, Sibur and Sinopec set up a rubber JV at the site of OJSC Krasnoyarsk Synthetic Rubber Plant (KSRP), with Sinopec assigned a stake of 25% + 1 share. Deliveries to China’s […]

Crimea Titan and Crimean Soda Plant, companies belonging to Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash, may halt their production in a month if no water appears in the North Crimean channel, said Edip Gafarov, presidium member of the State Council of Crimea, during a presidium meeting held by the Council. “We’ve visited the Crimean Soda and Crimea Titan plants; they have enough process water in their reservoir to last for about 30-35 days. After that, both plants could halt,” said Mr. Gafarov, as cited by Crimea Inform, a news agency. The water reservoir serving these chemical plants is replenished by the waters of the North Crimean channel, whose supply was shut off by the Ukrainian side. In the words of the acting head of the Crimean Republic Sergey Aksyonov, both plants still refuse to operate in the legislative environment of the RF. “There have been no contacts of any kind with the […]

Polief, part of Sibur, has completed a project called to expand its capacity to produce polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and is now able to turn out 210 instead of 140 thousand tonnes of the product each year. The output expansion efforts included reconstruction of the existing PET facilities as well as the construction of a new production line. The aims of the project were to set up facilities able to process the company’s own output of terephthalic acid (TPA) and to substitute foreign sources of PET in certain segments of the Russian PET market. The project has been placed on Bashkortostan Republic’s list of priority projects. The Russian market has consumed 580 thousand tonnes of PET in 2013, producing 405 thousand tonnes. The gap was filled by imported product. Russia’s per capita use of PET is 4.1 kg, while in Western Europe it is 6.6 kg, in the USA, 9.5 kg. […]