Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Japan’s Marubeni, Baltic Gas Chemical Company (BGCC) and Invasta Capital have signed a investment cooperation memorandum for the construction of methanol plant in Ust-Luga port area, Russia.
This agreement was signed today at Saint-Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The agreement states comprehensive collaboration concerning the commercial, corporate terms of the project development and the issues necessary for the final investment decisions of the project. The project consists in the construction of a world-scale methanol plant from natural gas with a capacity of 1.7 million tons per annum and sea export terminal in port industrial zone of Ust-Luga.
The parties have also reached an agreement for Marubeni’s assistance for introduction of loan facility from Japanese financial institutions linked to the EPC contract with the Japanese engineering company.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said:
“Russia has large reserves of natural resources which creates a sustainable competitive advantage in terms of raw materials. However, if compared to other oil and gas exporting countries, we produce substantially less chemical products, including methanol. The volumes of gas utilization in methanol in Russia are the lowest among the leaders in gas production, and the potential of this sector is still not realized. Due to the joint project of RDIF and partners in this field, we will be able to increase methanol production capacities in Russia and generally contribute to the development of the gas chemical industry”.
Grigory Omelchenko, General Director, Baltic Gas Chemical Company llc (BGCC), commented:
«We are glad to develop the project together with the Japanese consortium led by Marubeni Corporation as well as with Russian Direct Investment Fund. BGCC and Marubeni already agreed the main terms and conditions of methanol off-take from the new plant. The plant will be built in accordance with the most modern and safe technology, and it will be one of the world’s largest single-train methanol plants. Huge experience of Marubeni Corporation at the global chemical markets will be highly useful to effectively sale methanol from our plant»
Source: Company Press Release