| 2009-04-14 |
Published: The Kommersantú Newspaper (ú) (The Merchant Newspaper) |
GAIL of India or ALTA of the Czech Republic may become ITERA partners.
Despite the crisis, ITERA may find an investor for a methanol plant, its chemical project in Nizhni Tagil, worth ˆ300 million. GAIL Ltd, a state-owned gas company of India, and ALTA, an equipment producer of the Czech Republic, became interested in it nearly simultaneously. ITERA has not made its choice, so far. It is ready, though, to share the stockholding with the one to raise money the faster and cheaper way.
Upendra Data Chubi, Managing Director and Chairman of the Management Board of GAIL, announced yesterday that the company was currently assessing profitability of the methanol plant in Nizhni Tagil. «ITERA offered to construct a methanol plant in Russia. We are doing due diligence, now», — the Mint Newspaper of India quoted Mr. Chubi. It was yet in February of 2008 that Gail and ITERA signed Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation hydrocarbons-related areas. The Memorandum envisioned the Companies’ joint participation in natural gas liquefaction projects and petrochemical projects in Russia, as well as exploration and production of natural gas in CIS.
• In June of 2006, ITERA Oil and Gas Company and Uralkhimplast group (Urals Chemical Plastics) had signed an agreement to construct a complex for high-level processing of gas into products of organic chemistry. The complex is to be constructed on the Uralkhimplast site in Nizhni Tagil. The planned capacity of the complex is 600 thousand tons of methanols a year. CJSC Uralmetanolgrup (Urals Methanol Group) had been established on a par basis to implement the project. An initial plan was to construct the plant in 2008. The project worth about ˆ300 million was postponed, though.
One other potential partner of ITERA is interested in the project, too. Martin Rzhiman, Minister of Industry and Commerce of Czechia, Lubomir Pokorni, President of the Czech Export Bank, and Vladimir Plashil, Chairman of the Management Board of ALTA, the Czech Machinery Construction Company, visited the Uralmetanolgrup offices in Yekaterinburg on April 8. As a result, ALTA è Uralmetanolgrup signed a framework cooperation agreement. It envisioned organizing the project financing for construction of the gas-chemical complex for high-level processing of gas into products of organic chemistry on the Uralkhimplast site in Nizhni Tagil. Maxim Shein pointed out that ITERA had been negotiating with VTB and some other Russian investors. Because of the world economic and financial crisis, though, the Russian banks had only confined interest to new projects.
Presumably, foreign partners would allocate some ˆ230 million (75% the capital expenditure needed to implement the project) to organize the methanol production. Maxim Gerdt, General Director of CJSC Uralmetanolgrup, explained that «with the own production of methanol in place, Uralkhimplast acquires independence from the feedstock and additional stability since it would be able to do without feedstock supply from other regions». Mr. Gerdt insisted that the potential consumers’ orders on the produce of the plant to be constructed were 3.5 times its design capacity. Most produce is intended for export to Europe.
Initially, the fist train of the plant was to be commissioned in 2010. The plant was to reach its full capacity (600 thousand tons of methanols a year) in 2011. Because of the crisis, though, the commissioning of the plant was shifted to 2012. Vladimir Makeyev, Chairman of ITERA Management Board told „Ú“: «We are ready to invite co-investors. Those should be strategic co-investors, rather than portfolio ones. Those are expected not just help reduce financial liabilities of the current founders, but also add new possibilities and process solutions to the project». «We understand basic risks and ways to minimize them. As soon as the project financing issue is done with, we would commence construction of the most advanced methanol plant in Russia», - he stated.
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