OREANDA-NEWS. December 17, 2007. Governor Viktor Tolokonsky, before meeting the shareholders of the enterprise to discuss the prospects of production upgrade, made a small tour of the plant’s workshops. In the hot roll shop Viktor Alexandrovich watched the work of the rolling mill installed at the enterprise back in the 40-s. In the sheet roll shop he was shown a recently purchased slitting line produced by DEL (Czech Republic). The production capacity reserves of the line are sufficient to produce the required amounts of commercial stripe not only for the NMP named after Kuzmin but for all the metallurgical enterprises of ESTAR Group.

Besides, the shop is about to begin installation of a tube mill produced by OTO-MILLS (Italy) for the production of water and gas pipes with a diameter of 15 to 32 mm. According to the enterprise experts, putting the new mill into operation will provide a technical possibility to increase the production that is in great demand on the market.

“Novosibirsk Metallurgical Plant named after Kuzmin is, in my opinion, a good example of an enterprise that, despite the difficulties typical for the Russian economy and metallurgy in particular, stands apart as a generator of new methods of overcoming these difficulties”, said the governor. “This enterprise is of a great importance for our city and our region. In the course of the last 2.5 years, when new shareholders have been developing the plant, the production increased twofold however a dramatic reconstruction is required to make another step in the implementation of the large-scale strategic development program of the enterprise”.

According to Viktor Tolokonsky, today the shareholders are ready to invest in large-scale production upgrade. The regional authorities will unanimously uphold this investment project and its implementation using tax benefits and investment subsidies that partially compensate the investors for the expenditures connected with commissioning of new facilities.

According to the plans of shareholders, in the next 5 years the plant will see a step-by-step reconstruction. New production facilities will be built at the plant: an arc furnace shop, a Steckel mill and a tube welding mill. In fact, two enterprises will operate on the are of 80 hectares: NMP named after Kuzmin and a tube plant.

Besides, lack of qualified staff has become a topical issue for the plant. This is a deterrent factor for the region’s economical development that is inadmissible in market conditions. The governor suggests solving this burning problem in the city and regional enterprises by creating an special resource centre using the potential of Novosibirsk State Technical University and technical vocational schools of Novosibirsk.