(4-traders) -- Poland's state-controlled refiner Grupa Lotos along with chemical producer Zaklady Azotowe Tarnow will construct a petrochemical plant in the country, according to the Treasury Minister Mikolaj Budzanowski.
The project will cost 5-6 billion zlotys (USD1.6-1.9 billion) and its construction is scheduled to begin in 2014 or 2015. The plant should be ready by 2018.
The new plant would be adjacent to the Gdansk-based Lotos refinery and would use its products.
The project shows the government's push to encourage joint ventures by Poland's many state-controlled companies, a legacy of the communist era, is bearing fruit.
Grupa LOTOS is one of the largest companies in Poland. It is an oil company operating both in Poland and abroad, whose business consists in the extraction and processing of crude oil, as well as wholesale and retail sale of high-quality petroleum products. Apart from Grupa LOTOS, which manages the refinery in Gdansk, the LOTOS Group currently comprises 15 other companies operating under the LOTOS name. One of them is based in Lithuania and another one in Norway.
MRC