Azerbaijan, Baku, April 14 / Trend /
On April 14, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has attended a presentation of the Garadagh OJSC`s cement plant reconstruction project and groundbreaking ceremony for a state-of-the-art dry-process rotary kiln, AzerTag news agency reported.
The kiln construction project worth $400 million is one of giant projects in Azerbaijan's non-oil sector.
Swiss Holcim company Chief Executive Director Markus Ackermann made a speech at the ceremony and thanked the government for their support to this project.
Construction of the kiln and upgrading the plant will finish in 2011.
Construction of a new kiln will increase capacity of the enterprise by 30 percent. Applying new technology will cut number emissions to atmosphere and reduce influence of Garadagh Cement plant's activity on environment.
Construction of the kiln will enable to increase annual production of clinker from 0.8 million tons to 1.2 million tons and cement - from 1.3 million tons to 1.7 million tons. The project must assist in reducing energy expenditures by 50 percent in the production process.
Shareholders of Garadagh Cement is the Swiss Holcim (69.4 percent), the EBRD and Azerbaijan Investment Company per 10 percent of stakes and 10.6 percent of stakes belong to private shareholders.