Gazprom Neft, Rosavtodor and SIBUR sign cooperation agreement on regulation of polymer usage in road construction
Gazprom Neft, Rosavtodor and SIBUR sign cooperation agreement on regulation of polymer usage in road construction
29 October 2014, press releaseGazprom Neft, the Federal Road Agency (Rosavtodor), and gas processing and petrochemicals company SIBUR have signed acooperation agreement onregulation governing the use ofmodern polymer materials inroad construction.
The agreement was signed byAlexander Dyukov (Gazprom Neft Chairman ofthe Management Board), Roman Starovoyt (head ofRosavtodor), and Kirill Shamalov (Deputy CEO, SIBUR).
All parties confirmed their commitment tocooperating more closely onthe adoption ofregulation governing the application and usage ofmodern polymer materials inroad surfacing.
The companies will bejoining forces inestablishing and developing along-term forecast onthe use ofpolymer materials inroad construction, anindustry-wide system for quality control over polymer materials (involving producers’ own laboratories), and asystem for testing and monitoring the use ofpolymer materials inroad construction.
Rosavtodor and SIBUR also plan towork together incoordinating research and development activities, and indeveloping vocational training programmes, cross-training and continued professional development, training and qualification requirements, and standards and proficiency testing programmes for employees ofconstruction and project management organisations.
Alexander Dyukov commented: “Gazprom Neft’s strategy ispredicated onour achieving technological leadership ofthe Russian bitumens market. Tothat end weare constantly implementing innovative production technologies, and improving the managerial effectiveness ofthe company’s bitumen business, aswell asjoining forces with all major market players toconsolidate and improve regulation underpinning the industry. The harmonisation ofstandards regulating road construction isapowerful stimulus for the development ofthe entire industry and for the introduction ofcutting-edge materials for the construction ofhigh-quality, durable roads.”
Roman Starovoyt added: “Initiatives toincrease the pool oflaboratories taking part inthe quality control ofpetrochemical by-products have already been undertaken. Inorder torapidly increase the number oflaboratories weengage with and utilise producers’ own facilities toconduct anonymous data-collection activities. This isdirectly relevant tothe Federal Roads Agency, given the wide range ofactivities and the geographic scope ofour work”.
Kirill Shamalov remarked: “Bringing together the abilities and resources ofboth regulators and the business community will, Iam sure, allowus tosignificantly improve the situation inovercoming regulatory and technical barriers tothe wider usage ofpolymer materials inthe sector, and will facilitate better quality control and greater effectiveness intheir application.”
The agreement will remain inforce until the end of2016, and may beextended, subject tothe agreement ofall parties.
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Gazprom Neft isone ofRussia’s leading producers and suppliers ofbitumen products, actively developing this business sector since 2008.
The company’s key production facilities are based inthe Moscow, Omsk, Yaroslavl and Ryazan Oblasts, aswell asinSerbia and Kazakhstan. The company’s refining facilities produce road, construction and roofing bitumens, aswell aspolymer-modified asphalt and bitumen emulsions.
InOctober 2014 the company announced the establishment ofaspecialist subsidiary— Gazpromneft Bitumen Materials LLC— bringing together all management functions pertaining tothe company’s bitumens business.
The Federal Road Agency ofthe Ministry ofTransport ofthe Russian Federation (Rosavtodor) isresponsible for the management offederal public motorways. Asof2014, Rosavtodor administers over 48,000km offederal roads, over 5,646 bridges and road interchanges, 30car tunnels, 252 crosswalks ofvarying levels, and more than 10,000 pedestrian walkways.
The agency has the following key priorities: doubling construction offederal motorways by2022 (incomparison with the preceding decade); implementing public—private partnership projects; ensuring the repair and maintenance ofthe federal motorways within budgetary limits inthe current year and, thereafter, to2019; and implementing initiatives directed atimproving traffic safety.
Since November 2012 the Federal Road Agency has been headed byRoman Starovoyt.
SIBUR produces high-technology materials used inroad construction— thermoplastic elastomers, adding high-performance characteristics totraditional bitumen, and polymer-modified geosynthetics.
In2012SIBUR and Gazprom Neft signed apartnership agreement onthe production and usage ofpolymer materials inthe road sector: under the terms ofwhich SIBUR agreed tosupply Gazprom Neft with thermoplastic elastomers tobeused inthe production ofpolymer-modified asphalt cement for improving the quality and durability ofroad surfaces. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business interms ofassociated petroleum gas processing volumes, and isaleader inthe Russian petrochemicals industry. The company operates across 26production facilities located throughout various regions ofRussia, and employs more than 26,000personnel. The company’s products are sold tomore than 1,400 major consumers operating inthe energy, automotive, construction, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), chemical and other industries inapproximately 70countries around the world.