An official groundbreaking ceremony for a new lube blending plant of PJSC LUKOIL, the largest private oil company in Russia, was held on March 19 in Kazakhstan. The ceremony was attended by Maxim Donde, general director of LLK-International (a wholly-owned subsidiary of PJSC LUKOIL), delegation of the Almaty Region led by its akim Amandyk Batalov, representative of the Ministry of Energy of Kazakhstan and management of TOO Shar-Kurylys, general contractor of the construction project.

The facility is being built in the Almaty region, in close proximity to the Western Europe-Western China transportation route the Kazakh part of which will be completed in 2016. Owed to the favorable location on the crossroad of vital transportation routes, the priority market for the plant will be not only Kazakhstan but also other countries of Central Asia, as well as Mongolia, Afghanistan and China.

"It is a new stage of LUKOIL's cooperation with the Republic of Kazakhstan. The capacity of the plant will be 100,000 tons a year with an option to increase the output up to 130,000 tons. About $85 million will be invested. A high-tech lube blending plant capable of producing world-class products will be built," said Maxim Donde, general director of LLK-International.