Far East fertilizer project depends on Gazprom, no firm schedule - Rotenberg
MOSCOW. Oct 30 (Interfax) - CJSC National Chemicals Group (NCG), which is controlled by firms owned by Arkady Rotenberg, still intends to build a nitrogen fertilizer plant in the Russian Far East and is waiting for Gazprom to reach a decision on gas supplies.
"Gazprom is now thinking about this; they have two fields there, but they're quite complex. If Gazprom provides these 3.2 bcm, we will certainly build. I think that we'll figure things out with the finances. Partners could also be brought in, the project is interesting after all," Arkady Rotenberg told Interfax in an interview.
"When we began the project, we thought about attracting Japanese companies. They build such plants well, they have good technology and they are prepared to buy a derivative of the production process - methanol. And they, by the way, have not declined yet. Therefore, in principle, the financial plan has remained. But I can't say exactly at the moment when the project will be realized," Rotenberg said.
NCG's general director, Nikolai Sabitov, said in September that the company might start building the plant in the Primorye territory in a few months. He said preliminary surveying had been carried out and that a site had been chosen near the port of Vostochny.
The first stage of the complex, including external, will cost an estimated 240 billion rubles to build.
NCG was registered in October 2011. Firms controlled by Arkady Rotenberg also own 79% of OJSC Minudobreniya, a nitrogen and compound fertilizer plant from Rossosh.
The full text of the interview will be posted on www.interfax.com.
