OREANDA-NEWS. On July 04, 2008 witnessed laying the first stone into the foundation of a factory for the production of glass fibre and glass fibre based products in the territory of the special economic industrial production zone Alabuga (Republic of Tatarstan) (SEZ), reported the press-centre of Tatneft.

The Joint Venture "P-D Tatneft Alabuga Steklovolokno" founded on the parity basis by Tatneft-Alabuga (100% subsidiary of OAO Tatneft) and P-D Glasseiden GmbH Oschatz (subsidiary of the German firm Preiss - Daimler Group) is a resident of SEZ.

The ceremony of beginning the construction of the new enterprise has been attended by Rustam Minnikhanov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Thomas Yurk, Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Economy and Labor of Saxony (Germany), Vladimir Lavuschenko, Deputy General Director of OAO Tatneft, Economics, Juergen Price, President of Preiss-Daimler Group, Shagivaleev Timur, Head of the Territorial Administration Federal Agency for Management of SEZs in the Republic of  Tatarstan as well as by several other representatives of business community in Saxony, the Government of Tatarstan, SEZ Alabuga and senior experts of OAO Tatneft.

The project has been reviewed by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan and it has been praised highly. Its implementation will allow to master new effective hi-tech production in the Republic, go to overseas markets, create new jobs in the region and increase the flow of tax payments into the budgets of all levels.

The plant will produce high-quality competitive products, such as wire glass, straight roving, roving for felling, glass-fibre mats etc., which are used in construction, automotive, shipbuilding, electrical and other industries. Design capacity is 20,7 thousand tons of products per year. The cost of the project is 2.2 billion rubles.

The advantages of the new production works are possibility of using local raw materials, convenient geographical location, proximity to major petrochemical, automobile manufacturing and other industrial enterprises, as well as the region's developed transport infrastructure.

The foreign investor, P-D Glasseiden GmbH Oschatz company,  is a leader in Europe for the production of glass fibre and possesses the latest technologies for the manufacturing various glass fibre based products.

Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia,  at a meeting on the development of the automotive industry in Russia during his visit to SEZ Alabuga at the end of May this year set a global challenge to the domestic automobile industry that by 2012 at least 60% of components for auto vehicles manufactured in the territory Country should be produced in Russia.

The joint venture of Tatneft and Preiss-Daimler Group is intended to contribute to the solution of this problem, and in the course of time take a worthy place in the market of glass fibre based products manufacturers.