OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2007. Rostov Electrometallurgical Plant /REMP, Shakhty, Rostov region, part of ESTAR Group/ started the hot tests of main technological equipment on Monday night and accomplished successfully the first melt at 06:30 AM (Moscow time), according to the press service of ESTAR Group.

The hot tests are to last about 3 months. This is one of the stages of commissioning; afterwards a report on putting the first stage of the plant into operation should be signed. Commissioning of the first stage of CC blanks production (730,000 t per year) is scheduled for March of 2008.

As PRIME-TASS has informed earlier, in July of 2007 ESTAR Group launched the first stage of REMP that will produce cast square blanks for further rolling into bar applying a continuous steel casting technology. The investments in construction reached $200 mln.

REMP was registered on 13.09.2004 in Shakhty and reorganized on 31.12.2004 through merger with another REMP. The authorized capital of REMP is 1,275,702.990 rubles. REMP is the first metallurgical enterprise in Russia and on the post-Soviet territory in the last 20 years that was constructed from scratch /a greenfield project/.