OREANDA-NEWS. October 05, 2009. Tatneft-Neftekhim Management Company (a subsidiary of OAO TATNEFT) together with OAO SIBUR — Russian Tires Company organized the round table session held, reported the press-centre of Tatneft.

The session discussed the state and prospects of developing domestic tire production, the problems associated with growing pressure from foreign competitors, as well as the issues of developing modern domestic technologies and training professionals for the tire industry on the basis of Russian universities. In addition to managers and experts of the tire manufacturing companies the round table session was also attended by representatives of the State Duma and the Federation Council of the Russian Federation, as well as by representatives of a number of ministries and agencies and the leading federal media.

Tatneft-Neftekhim Management Company unites a number of enterprises engaged in a common technological cycle from raw material supply to the realization of finished products. Its composition includes Nizhnekamskshina, which is the largest factory in the industry branch. TATNEFT implemented major investment projects in this field over the past few years, such as organizing the production of passenger cars and light truck tires Kama-Euro under the Pirelli technology; construction of a new rubber-mixing complex; development and implementation of a strategic investment program of Nizhnekamskshina until 2013 providing for further increase of the Kama-Euro type tires production.

In addition, the solid steel cord (SSC) tires production factory, one of the most modern in Europe, is preparing to be commissioned in Nizhnekamsk with TATNEFT having invested about 17 billion rubles in the construction project.

The decision on the construction the SSC Tire Factory producing truck and bus tires in Nizhnekamsk was made in 2006 in connection with the trend towards increasing demand for tires of the mentioned design, including the demand from the largest customer in the Republic of Tatarstan: KamAZ Auto Manufacturer. The planned output capacity of the factory will be up to 1.2 million tires per year.

A specific feature of SSC tires is application of rubber-coated solid steel cord instead of the textile based one in their frame and specifically shaped bead rings capable of withstanding increased loads. The SSC tires design allows increasing the motor vehicles carrying capacity by 8%, significantly reducing fuel consumption and limiting the emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere, respectively. In addition, SSC tires can be rehabilitated up to three times through re-capping the tread and that extends the service life of tires up to 500 thousand kilometers run.

Such large-scale construction of a factory from scratch is really unique in today's Russia. Investment projects in the petrochemical complex of OAO TATNEFT aim at strengthening the position of the domestic petrochemical industry, increasing the country's output of highly convertible products, as well as maintaining the high competitiveness level of the Company.