| The concern does not want to build Mill-5000 in Nizhny Tagil Last Saturday, Deputy Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Vladimir Bugrin said at a press conference that Gazprom JSC is not going to participate in the construction of “any pipe rolling mills.” The basis for such a categorical statement was the confirmation received by the leadership of the Chelyabinsk region from Gazprom that the concern does not intend to finance in any form the construction of a plant for the production of large-diameter pipes on the basis of the Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (NTMK).
Meanwhile, on October 26, the board of directors of Gazprom decided to join JSC Plant for the Production of Large Diameter Pipe on the basis of NTMK. The new JSC was planned to be registered on December 15. However, taking into account new statements by the leaders of the gas monopolist, an exciting event is unlikely to happen this week. As expected, the founders of the joint-stock company, in addition to Gazprom, were to be the Russian Federal Property Fund, NTMK JSC and the Swiss company Duferco.
According to experts, the implementation of the new project will require 700-900 million dollars. The commissioning of the new enterprise is scheduled for the beginning of 2003, the payback period is 7 years from the start of the project. The developers of the unique production expect that the complex will produce about 1 million tons of large-diameter straight-seam pipes and half a million tons of rolled plates.
However, it seems that the initial plans of the project authors regarding the construction time frame are not destined to come true. The fight for the right to implement it (and therefore for guaranteed orders from Gazprom for many years) has already delayed the construction of the unique plant. The position of Gazprom itself strongly resembles the coquetry of a capricious girl: you beg me, and I’ll take a look. At first, Gazprom thinks for almost six months whether to take part in the project or not, then it finally decides, and then cancels this decision. It is clear that there is little reason for Gazprom to participate in the construction of Mill 5000 - first you invest in the construction of the plant, and then you buy products from it. And yet, the managers of the gas monopolist will have to make a final decision, apparently, in the very near future. Alexander KRIVTSOV |
|
