Rusnano invests 5.5 bln rubles in TMK project for 5.5% share stake
MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) - Rusnano has invested 5.5 billion rubles in the project to expand production of high-tech pipe at TMK , receiving 5.476% of shares in exchange, Rusnano said in a statement.
"It is vital that Russian companies make products that can compete on price and quality with the best foreign analogs and are able to fully substitute for imports," Rusnano chief Anatoly Chubais is quoted in the statement as saying. "Given the external economic situation, the joint project's production is acquiring urgency and will be in demand on the oil and gas market," he said.
The project, in which TMK will itself invest at least 12.5 billion rubles, will boost production of high-performance pipe for the oil and gas industry. The project involves organizing a continuous casting fine quality mill at TMK's Seversky pipe plant. It will produce seamless pipe for the oil and gas industry, including casing pipe and pipe for linear pipeline segments. The mill will have capacity to produce 600,000 tonnes a year. Pipe quality will be significantly raised by using nanostructured alloys, increasing the strength and ductility of the pipe by 15%-20% and improving its corrosion resistance, making the pipe suitable for use in developing unconventional and hard-to-extract hydrocarbon reserves.