Azerbaijan, Baku, July 4 /Trend E.Ismayilov/
The contractor for the construction of STAR refinery of State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) in Turkey will be determined in September, president of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev told journalists.
He noted that the financial scheme to invest in the construction of the plant will be established by the end of the year. Currently negotiations are continuing with the banks that have expressed a desire to participate in financing the construction of this enterprise. Full-scale construction works will be launched next year, Abdullayev said.
He added that preparatory earthworks are being carried out currently, half of which have already been completed.
Up to $6 billion will be directed towards the construction of the oil refinery. This will be financed partly through shareholders (30 per cent), which is about $1.8 billion and the rest through bank loans.
Annual production of naphtha which is used as the primary Petkim raw material will be 1.66 million tons at STAR. Currently, more than 80 per cent of the needs of Petkim in naphtha are met through imports whose dependence will be reduced to zero after the opening of the new refinery.