OREANDA-NEWS. December 21, 2012. Synthetic Rubbers Research and Development Centre has been established at SIBUR to become the main platform for the Company's synthetic rubbers research and development.

The new R&D Centre is designed to facilitate exploration with high implementation risks to ensure sustained innovations excellence in the market. In addition to fostering SIBUR's technology competencies in synthetic rubbers, the Centre will also engage in commercialising SIBUR’s synthetic rubber innovations, helping to prepare process design packages for further licensing and contributing to joint development programmes and production engineering.

Previously, synthetic rubbers R&D used to be carried out at the NIOST Laboratory for Synthetic Rubbers. The new R&D centre, as well as NIOST, SIBUR’s corporate scientific centre for chemical technologies, will participate in building and implementing research and development programmes along with advanced scientific and engineering activities. With the stand-alone rubbers R&D Centre set up, SIBUR’s R&D structure is now complete.

SIBUR’s Divisions and SIBUR Technologies Centre act as internal customers, providing the pipeline of R&D orders. In cooperation with NIOST, Synthetic Rubbers Research and Development Centre will engage in research and development of rubbers and polymers. The Tolyattisintez and Tomsk-Neftekhim R&D Centres are responsible for process improvement and on-site production support.

The new Synthetic Rubbers R&D Centre leverages the platform and expertise of Voronezhsintezkauchuk’s former technical research facility and the NIOST Laboratory for Synthetic Rubbers. The R&D Centre headcount will total 70 people. The Voronezh site was considered the best choice for the new Centre due to its solid science and technology platform, capacities for the rapid introduction of innovations, convenience in terms of technical service, and prospective development of pilot units at the Voronezhsintezkauchuk site.

"Not only should the new Centre become the Company’s major R&D hub in its field, but it should also act as a sponsor of conceptual research by third-party entities,” says Vasily Nomokonov, SIBUR’s Managing Director, Production Efficiency, Power Engineering, and Innovations.