BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 27
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Kazakhstan is looking for new investors to construct a polyethylene plant in country’s Atyrau region, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Energy Nurlan Nogayev said, Trend reports with reference to Kazakh media.
Nogayev made the statement during a reporting meeting with the population held on May 27, 2020.
On May 19,2020 Borealis announced a decision to suspend development of a polyethylene project in Kazakhstan.
The company said then that the decision to discontinue the project was based on a thorough assessment of all aspects of the prospective venture and impacted by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the increased uncertainty of future market assumptions.
In turn, Nogayev said that the company suspended project’s implementation due to the conditions associated with coronavirus and low prices.
“I would like to say about the project that we plan to implement on the territory of the Atyrau region’s special economic zone. This project was well developed, a feasibility study was adopted in cooperation with Borealis, which has a required license and experience. Borealis is a joint venture between Mubadala from the United Arab Emirates and Austrian OMV. However, Borealis made a decision to stop project’s implementation, the decision, which was caused, among other things, by the prevailing conditions associated with coronavirus and low prices. Now the ministry is considering finding new investors for the project’s implementation,” Nogaev said.
Nogayev also said that among the reasons for the project’s implementation halt the ministry of energy considers the change of management and the exchange of shares between shareholders of the Borealis itself.
“Earlier, when negotiations with Borealis were initially held, the share of Mubadala in the company was 64 percent, and the share of OMV was 36 percent. Now, the share of OMV, which bought part of the stake from Mubadala, is 75 percent, and Mubadala owns 25 percent,” he said.
Borealis and Kazakhstan's United Chemical Company LLP (UCC) signed Joint Development Agreement in Abu Dhabi on Mar. 24, 2018.
The agreement oversaw development of a world-scale polyethylene project, integrated with an ethane cracker, in Kazakhstan.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed to cooperate on a 500 ktpa polypropylene project that was being implemented by Samruk-Kazyna Sovereign Wealth Fund.
The final investment decision on the project was to be made in 2020 and start-up was to be scheduled for 2025.
Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers.
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