OREANDA-NEWS. On 22 February 2008 was announced, that BaselCement and Turkish Cimentas signed a two-year contract for the delivery of 2 million tons of cement to Russia. Thanks to this deal, BaselCement will become Russia’s biggest cement importer.
 
For the past few years, Russia has been experiencing acute shortages of cement. Last year, Russia produced 59.7 million tons of cement and imported another 2.2 million tons of product. In 2007, cement prices in Russia exceeded average European prices by some 150% and in some months increased by more than 10% per month. By the time the Russian government’s “Affordable Housing” programme begins in 2009-2010 and the construction of major infrastructure projects gets underway, Russia will need an estimated 80-90 million tons of cement annually.
 
“Demand for cement in Russia is constantly growing. Big producers, including our Company, have only just started constructing new cement plants. In the short-term, import deliveries can partially solve the problems Russian builders and developers are facing,” says Dmitry Savenkov, Managing Director of BaselCement.
 
“BaselCement is the best partner for us, and we hope to enjoy long-term and fruitful collaboration with it,” said Paolo Bossi, vice-president of Turkish Cimentas. “This company offered the most advantageous terms, as well as the biggest volume, which we accepted.”
 
The first consignment of Portland cement will be delivered to the port of Novorossijsk at the end of February. The cement from Turkey will be shipped in special packs, each weighing 1.5 tons. From Novorossijsk, the cement will be supplied to Russia’s Southern Federal District, the North-West (including Leningradskaya Oblast and St. Petersburg) and Moscow. The product of Cimentas is fully certified for the Russian market.
 
BaselCement plants operate in Achinsk and Sas-Tobe in Kazakhstan, and during the last eighteen months, the Company has started to build new production facilities at the settlement of Oktyabrsky near the Serebryanskoye deposit in Ryazanskaya Oblast, at Uglovka settlement in Veliky Novgorod Oblast, and in Tuapse. The Serebryansky Cement Plant will be commissioned in 2009, while the Uglovsky and Tuapsinsky Cement Plants will start producing in 2010.