On July 29, 2014, a ceremony devoted to commencement of the construction of a carbon black plant was held in the City of Mogilev (Republic of Belarus). Omsk Carbon Group was appointed the operator of the international project. The date marked “driving the first stake” into the ground where the foundation of the future state-of-the-art production facilities will be located on a plot with a total area of 23 ha in the Mogilev Free Economic Zone.
The project history commenced slightly more than a year ago (February 2013), when the Omsk Region’s businessmen and officials visited the Republic of Belarus. As part of the official visit, a meeting with the participation of Alexander Lukashenko, the president of the Republic of Belarus, and Viktor Nazarov, the governor of the Omsk Region, took place. At the meeting, the management of Omsk Carbon Group presented an investment project for the construction of the new plant, which was supported by the President of the Republic of Belarus. “This project will bring us to a new level of cooperation; we will master a new format: from goods exchange to the construction of modern competitive facilities,” noted Alexander Lukashenko.
With due consideration of its strong positions in the industry, high level of technologies and competitive ability, Omsk Carbon Group was appointed the operator of the international project. It took a year to perform the design works, conduct necessary examinations and obtain approvals in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Belarus.
This project is also viewed as the real embodiment of the integration processes formalized by a Treaty on the Creation of the Eurasian Economic Union, signed in May 2014 in Astana by the presidents of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia. Valery Kaplunat, the chairman of the board of directors of Omsk Carbon Group OOO, noted several important points in his comment on the event: “We are creating a modern transnational model for carbon black production in the post-Soviet zone.
Global integration processes urge us to transfer our production facilities closer to end customers, which optimizes logistics and enables our research centers and production sites to operate with maximum efficiency. What is more, the Belorussian government creates constructive conditions for investors, which mutually enhances competitiveness of Belorussian and Russian enterprises on the global market.
Having become an investor in the Republic of Belarus, we are implementing an efficient model for the transfer of competitive technologies, which will undoubtedly have an impact on the image of the Omsk Region and will, in turn, make it more attractive for investors. Such projects provide a great synergy both for the Belarusian and the Russian economies. The company headquarters and financial flows will remain in Omsk. This in any case will have a positive impact on the tax base of our region.”