Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend . U.Ismaylova / Natik Shirinzadeh, member of the entrepreneurs council at the Azerbaijani Presidential Office and chairman of the committee of directors of AzRosPromInvest Limited, Alexander Vetugov, the chairman of the committee of directors of 'Bentonit' non-governmental organization and the president of 'RegionInvestProm', stated that the investors of the Russian-Azerbaijani joint 'AzRosPromInvest' enterprise expect profits of their business to reach $2mln per year.
The first phase of the joint enterprise was commissioned on 30 May; the sides are planning to conclude the construction by May 2008.
During the first stage the plant is planning production of 250,000 ton of bentonit per year. Now some 133 employees work at the enterprise, the number of employees will be increased to 300 in 2008.
According to Vetugov, one of the best quality fields of bentonit in the world is in Azerbaijan and therefore Russia preferred Azerbaijan.
AzRosPromInvest was established on 12 September 2006. The Azerbaijani 'Dashsalagli bentonit' shareholder together with the Russian 'Bentonit' production association took part in establishing the enterprise.