19 May 2004 07:42
RUSAL TO DEVELOP TIES WITH KHIMPROM
KHARKIV. May 19 (Interfax) - Russian Aluminum is ready to develop its working relations with state-run Ukrainian
enterprise Khimprom in compensation for not building at Kharkiv Aluminum Plant.
Interfax-Ukraine reports RusAl Management Company's deputy general director for special international projects
Alexander Livshits saying that RusAl had had to renege on construction obligations it assumed with the purchase of 30%
of Nikolayev Alumina Plant from Ukraine's State Property Fund in March of 2000.
"Circumstances proved stronger than us," Livshits said. Producing aluminum requires a lot of power and
Ukrainian law prevented this plant from receiving inexpensive electricity. The agreement was signed Tuesday at the
Kharkiv regional administration by Livshits and acting director at Khimprom (Pervomaisky) Yury Dudenkov.
RusAl suggestions for changing the investment obligations are being discussed. One of them is increasing production
capacity at the Nikolayev plant from 1.3 to 1.6 million tonnes of alumina per year and investing some $80 million over
four years in its modernization.
Another, Livshits said, is taking part in upgrading Khimprom, though he did not say what the investment might be in
this case.
RusAl is hoping for a positive outcome as early as this week, Livshits said.
The agreement signed Tuesday envisions setting up a working group to develop cooperation options, including
investment amounts.
Dudenkov said the working group would take roughly six months to prepare the resulting documents, including
feasibility study.
Livshits said one problem is Khimprom being a state-run outfit. This, he said, could be overcome by setting up a
joint enterprise or by privatizing Khimprom.
"The question is what kind of company organization it could be between 100% state and 100% private," he
said. RusAl is "interested in" Khimprom, he said when asked about its privatization, but added that this
matter requires deep study.
First deputy chief of the Kharkiv regional administration Oleksandr Kolesnikov told journalists that parliament had
received the suggestion that Khimprom be stricken from the list of to-be-privatized companies over a year ago.
Khimprom makes caustic, used in the manufacture of alumina. The regional authorities figure that if the plant's
production capacity is increased to 1.6 tonnes per year its needs for caustic would be an annual 75,000 tonnes, Khimprom
being able make around 40,000 tonnes itself.
The administration hopes RusAl will help in expanding the company's production capacity, which would also allow
it to increase chlorine output to 70,000 per year and break out of the red with output worth around 7 million hryvna per
month.
[Interfax] |
RUSSIA IN FACTS
