Gas-based production of chloroprene rubber in Armenia (at chemical giant Nairit Plant) can spur construction of Iran-Armenia railway, Vazgen Safaryan, Head of the Union of Local Manufacturers Vazgen Safaryan told reporters, Tuesday.
According to many experts, construction of Iran-Armenia railway is unviable. Activating the chemical giant on the basis of 'barter' gas will become a good reason to commercialize the given project.
To recall, earlier Vazgen Safaryan offered using the natural gas bartered with Iran in production of chloroprene rubber. In March, the Union of Local Manufacturers addressed the Iranian Ambassador to Armenia a letter with a relevant offer. "Now, we are waiting for the reply to our letter to know how much electric power and chloroprene rubber Iran needs." The remaining rubber, Safaryan said, can be exported, for instance, to Russia - the country uses nearly 20,000 tons of rubber in production annually - China and Kazakhstan. Safaryan said that the annual production capacity of Nairit Plant is almost 15,000 tons of rubber.
The fixed assets of Nairit Plant and its principal shareholder Rhinoville Property Limited were transferred to Interbank as a result of non-redemption of a loan. The 70 mln USD loan was provided in 2006 against security of the Plant. The latter received the loan for 5 years, i.e. till late Dec 2011, at 12,5% p.a. The current debt of the Plant is over $130 mln. To note, Nairit Plant has been idle since April 2010 and its employees hold regular actions of protest and demand their salaries payable.
To recall, on 25 December 2013, Rosneft, L.L.C. PIRELLI Tyre Russia, and Rosneft Armenia signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Yerevan. The Memorandum envisages creation of a styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) production joint venture in Armenia.