OREANDA-NEWS. RUSNANO is investing in a project to modernize large-scale production of caprolactam (a raw material for nylon) by the Russian company, KuibyshevAzot. The production process will be modernized using advanced technologies with nanostructured catalysts. The total investment will be 6.2 billion rubles, including 1.25 billion rubles from RUSNANO.

The nanostructured catalyst technology, transferred by the Dutch group DSM, will increase caprolactam production capacity at KuibyshevAzot from 190,000 to 210,000 tons per year (260,000 tons in the future) while reducing production costs by 12%. The effect of the technology is to boost output of cyclohexanone (an intermediate product in caprolactam synthesis) while reducing resource use and waste generation. Improvements will also be obtained in energy efficiency, and environmental and industrial safety.

The joint project with RUSNANO makes an important contribution to the strategic development program of KuibyshevAzot, which is focused on increasing the share of products with higher value added: the company now processes caprolactam into polyamide-6, technical and textile yarns, cord fabric, as well as engineering plastics (composite polymers for use in the automotive industry).

KuibyshevAzot is the biggest producer of caprolactam and polyamide-6 in the CIS and Eastern Europe. It is also one of the top-10 Russian nitrogen producers, producing ammonia and a range of nitrogen fertilizers (urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonium sulfate), which account for 5% of total Russian output of fertilizers.
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RUSNANO was founded as an open joint stock company in March 2011, through reorganization of state corporation Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies. RUSNANO is instrumental in realizing government policies for nanoindustry growth, investing in financially effective high-technology projects that guarantee the development of new manufacturing within the Russian Federation. The company invests in nanotechnology companies directly and through investment funds. Its primary investment focus is in electronics, optoelectronics and telecommunications, healthcare and biotechnology, metallurgy and metalwork, energy, mechanical engineering and instrument making, construction and industrial materials, and chemicals and petrochemicals. The Government of the Russian Federation owns 100 percent of the shares in RUSNANO.

Work to establish nanotechnology infrastructure and carry out educational programs is fulfilled by RUSNANO’s Fund for Infrastructure and Educational Programs, which was also established during the reorganization of the Russian Corporation of Nanotechnologies.

Management of the investment assets of RUSNANO are carried out by a limited liability company established in December 2013, RUSNANO Asset Management. Anatoly Chubais is chairman of its Executive Board.