First world-scale, fully integrated vinyls plant planned in Russia

29-Jun-07

To serve the fast growing markets in the Commonwealth of Independent States, Russia is all set to get its first fully integrated vinyls plant. In a deal signed by Russian petrochemical group Sibur, Solvay and Solvin (the jointly-owned subsidiary of Solvay and BASF), Russia is to get its first world-scale, fully integrated vinyls plant, scheduled for start up in 2010. The facility will be located at Kstovo, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, will have capacity to produce 330,000 tpa of vinyl resin and 225,000 tpa of caustic soda. The total investment outlay has been projected at €650 mln, for the project that is designed to accommodate future expansions totaling to 510,000 tpa of vinyl resin and 335,000 tpa of caustic soda. The plant's location will be near Sibur's cracker in Kstovo. Sibur, an affiliate of Gazprom, is planning to expand the cracker so it can meet the ethylene requirements of the new vinyls plant, said Solvay. Solvin and Sibur Holding will create a joint venture company called RusVinyl, in which each partner will hold 50%. In addition, Solvin has entered into talks with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to look at a possible EBRD involvement in the project.