In August 2012, Bulgarias Prista Oil Holding and Uzbekistan's Uznefteprodukt agreed to a US$16 million joint venture, creating two new enterprises that will operate at the Angren special industrial zone (SIZ), near Uzbekistans capital of Tashkent, for the purpose of processing used lube oils into re-refined lube base oil, with Prista Recycling to hold 51% of the 43,000 tons per year joint venture while Uznefteprodukt to hold the remaining 49%.
The Uz-Prista Recycling joint venture plans to put this used motor oil regeneration plant in Uzbekistan into operation this coming June, said a source close to the project.
The first enterprise, Uz-Ecoprotect, founded with US$1 million of capital, will collect, store and transport the used oils. The second, Uz-Prista Recycling, created with US$15 million of capital, will re-refine the collected waste oils and process them into lube base oils.
The construction operations were completed at the plant with a design capacity of processing the used motor oils in the volume of 43,000 tons and producing the base oils in the volume of 30,000 tons annually. The technological equipment for waste oil purification will be installed soon.
Prista Oil Holding bought Texaco Overseas Holdings 50.1% controlling stake in the former Uz-Texaco joint venture in Uzbekistan, in November 2011, renamed Uz-Prista. Uz-Texaco JV was founded in 1997 by Uzbekistan's state-owned Uzbeknefteprodukt JSC, the then downstream arm of energy giant Uzbekneftegaz and Chevron.
