MOSCOW (MRC) -- Russia's Gazprombank plans to implement a number of projects in Azerbaijan, which it considers one of the key countries for cooperation, the bank's Vice President Denis Kamyshev has told Russian media, said Menafn.
Kaymyshev said that Gozprombank has business interests with other CIS countries. He noted that Gazprombank has outlined positive dynamics in the bank's relations with Azerbaijan's business, as well as with various local authorities.
Kamyshev added that as a significant share in both Russia's and Azerbaijan's economy is occupied by the petrochemical industry. He added that the infrastructure is an essential part of the Azerbaijani economy.
'Part of it required a radical modernization, and it was important not to miss the moment. The Azerbaijani leadership understood this. We knew that SOCAR is a very demanding partner with whom it is necessary to be as frank and involved in the process as possible, he said.
Kamyshev noted that Gazprombank is engaged in a large project in Azerbaijan to build factories for the production of polypropylene and high density polyethylene. The production site is located in the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park, 30 km from Baku.
'The project is called SOCAR Polymer. The total cost is about USD800 million. The first plant was commissioned in July 2019. This is a major breakthrough for the country's economy, and a very interesting experience for us, Kamyshev emphasized.
He said that the bank has now launched the second large project in Azerbaijan - the construction of the SOCAR GPC gas processing and petrochemical complex, where Gazprombank acts as a financial consultant. He noted that the project's budget is about USD4 billion.
Kamyshev stressed that the bank intends to actively cooperate with local financial organizations during the implementation of projects in Azerbaijan.
'We have signed a cooperation agreement with two major Azerbaijani banks - PASHA Bank and the International Bank of Azerbaijan. We agreed on joint financing of investment projects in Azerbaijan in such priority areas as the petrochemical and oil and gas refining industries, agriculture, transport and logistics, communications and telecommunications, including with the use of factoring and leasing tools, he said.
In addition, the bank intends to offer a number of innovative hallmark products for sale in Azerbaijan.
As MRC informed earlier, SOCAR Polymer plans to reach the design load for low-pressure polyethylene (HDPE) no earlier than 2023. In 2019, SOCAR Polymer is expected to produce 48.2 thousand tons of low-pressure polyethylene and 110 thousand tons of polypropylene. In 2020, these indicators will amount to 97.4 and 140 thousand tons, respectively. In 2023, the company is expected to be able to reach its design targets and produce 120 thousand tons of polyethylene and 170 thousand tons of polypropylene. Thus, the production of HDPE relative to 2019 will grow by 2.5 times, polypropylene - by 54%.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC