Togliattiazot begins commissioning at ammonia transshipment terminal under construction in Taman

SAMARA. May 24 (Interfax) - Commissioning work has begun at the Togliattiazot terminal under construction for transshipment of ammonia and fertilizers in Taman (Krasnodar Territory), General Director Anatoly Shablinsky said in Togliattizot's corporate publication.

"We are implementing a strategically important project of federal significance; a transshipment complex in Taman. It will create new logistics routes and additional jobs. Commissioning work has now begun," Shablinsky said.

Togliattiazot has been building a terminal at the port of Taman since the early 2000s. The project was put on pause for several years. Construction resumed in 2015, but again stalled due to the unsettled issue of the land lease with the Krasnodar Territory and legal disputes regarding the recognition of ownership rights to real estate that the company had managed to build on it.

The construction project was "revived" in the summer of 2022. First, the Arbitration Court of the Krasnodar Territory declared illegal regional authorities' refusal to transfer land plots at the port of Taman, where the terminal is being built, to federal ownership (facilities involved in the transshipment of explosive substances can only be built on federal lands). Then, the head of the region and the Togliattiazot senior management signed a cooperation agreement.

Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Mikhail Yurin told reporters at the start of this year that the expected launch date of the terminal is Q2 2024.

Earlier, Togliattiazot had reported that the first stage of the terminal in Taman with a capacity of up to 2 million tonnes of ammonia per year was planned for launch in December 2023. The second stage of construction is planned for 2024-2025. When it is commissioned, capacity will increase to 3.5 million tonnes of ammonia and 1.5 tonnes of urea per year.

The commissioning of the export terminal will allow Togliattiazot to once again reach full capacity, which was reduced due to the shutdown of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in 2022.

Recent estimates put the total investment in the construction of the facility at 60 billion rubles. It is expected that at least 500 jobs will be created.

Togliattiazot is one of the world's largest producers of ammonia. The production capacity of the enterprise is more than 3 million tonnes of ammonia and 960,000 tonnes of urea per year.