Renovation Work Completed on Key Section of Volzhskiy Nitrogen-Oxygen Plant

A commissioning ceremony was held today for the newly renovated nitrogen-oxygen shop at the Volzhskiy Nitrogen-Oxygen Plant.

The plant, which produces nitrogen gas and oxygen, first came on stream in 1964. Following an emergency shutdown of one of the air separation units in 2005, a decision was taken to fully renovate the nitrogen-oxygen unit.

Based on newly installed equipment for gasification and storage of liquid and gas nitrogen, the upgrade has enhanced product quality while reducing production costs and operational risks in this hazardous facility.

The design capacity of the two new units will be sufficient to supply in full the additional gas requirements of Kauchuk OJSC and Voltyre-Prom OJSC following completion of investment projects to expand their current production capacities in 2010.

New air separation units will produce liquid nitrogen and oxygen for subsequent sale to 3-rd party consumers in the region.

The cost of the renovation programme was in excess of 160 million roubles.

Information for editors

Volzhskiy Nitrogen-Oxygen Plant OJSC is a subsidiary of SIBUR Holding OJSC. It supplies energy resources and industrial gases to SIBUR companies within the Volzhskiy chemicals complex (Voltyre-Prom OJSC, Kauchuk OJSC, Sibur-Volzhskiy OJSC). The plant owns all the energy supply lines feeding SIBUR’s Volzhskiy chemicals complex. It currently employees 590 people

The development priorities at the Volzhskiy nitrogen-oxygen plant include replacing outdated equipment, reducing production costs and introducing new products, thereby cutting costs and ensuring a reliable supply of energy to SIBUR companies in the region.

By controlling increases in the cost of its products and operating a flexible tariff policy the Volzhskiy nitrogen-oxygen plant has enabled savings by SIBUR’s Volzhskiy group of companies of 8 mln roubles in the 1st quarter of 2008 alone.