OREANDA-NEWS. August 7, 2012. Victor Sazonov, Head of Samara Region Duma, and Dmitry Azarov, Head of Samara City, visited ZAO Alcoa SMZ during the celebration of the professional holiday – Metallurgist Day. Other visitors included: Maksim Barov, Head of Project Administration in Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology of Samara Region; Vadim Kostin, Deputy Head of Kirovsky District of Samara; Valery Fomichev, President of Chamber of Commerce in Samara Region.

During the visit they met with the top management of Alcoa Russia and discussed plant upgrade, investment programs, expansion of technological capabilities and implementation of new effective Alcoa technologies.

Mikhail Spichak, Plant Manager, ZAO Alcoa SMZ: “Samara plant makes a significant contribution to the development of the Russian Metallurgy. For the last 5 years the company has implemented an extended upgrade program that included enhancements of environment, health and safety system, launch of lean production system, personnel training and improvement of workforce potential. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the plant is no worse than any of the similar plants on Europe or the USA”.

Victor Sazonov, Chairman of Samara Region Duma, expressed his satisfaction with the changes that had taken place at the plant for five years and emphasized the importance of the company’s investment programs for the economy of Samara Region.

Dmitry Azarov, Head of Samara City, noted the huge potential of the plant in terms of the city development and thanked the employees for their help in beautification of the adjacent plant area and congratulated them on the professional holiday.

Employees of Alcoa SMZ were recognized with awards, certificates and thank-you letters from state and regional ministries, regional and city governments.