NEWS

From April 10 to April 12, 2019, the Kazan Expo International Exhibition Centre will host the Tatarstan International Energy & Resource Efficiency Forum (further, the TEF), composed of the 19th International Symposium “Energy & Resource Efficiency and Energy Saving” and the 20th International Specialised Exhibition “Energy. Resource Saving”. These traditional annual industry events that have earlier established themselves as one of the leading energy-related events in the Volga Federal District are held this year in a single forum format. As part of the Forum’s business programme, 20 discussion platforms are scheduled this year.

On April 11, matchmaking business meetings will take place within the Forum’s programme by main experts of Tatarstan’s energy sector enterprises. The objective of this event is to hold discussions between representatives of major energy sector enterprises of Tatarstan and exhibitors from other regions and countries, to establish promising partnerships and conclude business contracts.

Every year, thanks to such meetings, more than 90 enterprises, experts of republic’s small and medium-sized businesses, succeed in conducting effective business negotiations, seeking new business partners, and signing beneficial contracts.

Sign up for business meetings at www.bizexpotime.ru (in Russian)

Attendance is free of charge. Read more at tef.tatar (in Russian)

On March 27, 2019, the Tatarstan Ministry of Industry and Trade hosted a meeting of the Commission on Observance of Requirements to Professional Conduct of Public Civil Servants and Resolving of Conflicts of Interests under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister Almaz Khusainov.

The meeting reviewed:

- the issue of making additions to the list of the public civil service positions, holding of which is associated with corruption risks, who are required to provide information about their incomes, expenditures, property and property-related liabilities, in connection with the assigned functions for the positions under consideration;

- notifications from commercial and other organisations about the conclusion of employment contracts with citizens who previously held various public civil service positions in the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Tatarstan in order to obtain consent to fill the relevant positions and to work in the said organisations after leaving the civil service;

- a statement about the inability to provide information about incomes, expenditures, property and property-related liabilities of a minor child, and other issues.

Ford Sollers announced restructuring: the company leaves the car market and focus on the light commercial vehicles segment.

Shareholders of the Ford Sollers joint venture, Ford Motor Company and PAO Sollers, reached an agreement and signed a Protocol of Intent on the restructuring of the joint venture, whose future activities will focus on the LCV segment. The new business structure will allow the company to strengthen its position and increase sales of Ford Transit, the production of which will continue at the plant in the SEZ Alabuga (Tatarstan). Over the past three years, Ford Transit sales grew by more than 200%, which allowed the model to become a segment leader among foreign brands.

The Letter of Intent was signed after a revision of the JV's strategy by its shareholders, Ford and Sollers. The objective of the changes is the need to return to the company's profitability in the short term and increase the investment efficiency against the background of difficult market situation. Discussions between shareholders continue and final agreements will be reached in the coming months.

Ford Sollers JV is responsible for the Russian production of Ford vehicles, the imports and sales of all Ford products including automotive vehicles, their parts and accessories on the Russian market. The Ford Sollers joint venture comprised production sites in Vsevolozhsk (Leningradsky Oblast), in Naberezhnye Chelny and in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone (Republic of Tatarstan).

 Based on information by Ford Sollers press service

A meeting with representatives of the İstanbul Electrical Electronics Services Exporters' Association (TET) was held today at the Tatarstan Ministry of Industry and Trade. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Minister Almaz Khusainov. He spoke about the industrial potential of the republic. Association representatives visited Tatarstan for the first time in expanded format, so they paid special attention to B2B meetings with representatives of energy utility companies.

TET's active members are more than 4,000 companies producing household appliances (refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dryers, ovens, dishwashers, etc.), electronics (televisions, LCD panels, water heaters, metering devices, telephone equipment, audio and video equipment, writing devices, etc.), cables (including fibre optic and coaxial ones), equipment for the production and transmission of electrical energy, and much more.

The İstanbul Electrical Electronics Services Exporters' Association is a sub-branch of the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TİM) operating with the support from the Ministry of Commerce of the Republic of Turkey.

Today, a regular meeting of the regional Committee to Combat Illicit Trafficking in Industrial Products was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Almaz Khusainov. The meeting discussed issues of countering the illicit trafficking of light industry and children's products, as well as compliance with the requirements for mandatory labelling of products made of natural fur.

Deputy Head of the Tatarstan Office of Rospotrebnadzor Marina Trofimova spoke about the activities carried out to monitor light industry and children's products and to supervise the turnover of fur products with respect to their labelling with identification means.

In 2018, the Office received 76 complaints from consumers about the inadequate quality of light industry products. As a result of the supervisory measures, a total of 104 violations were identified and 22 administrative protocols were drawn up. A total of 449 batches of light industry products were arrested.

Following the meeting of the republic’s Committee, decisions were made on preparing joint proposals to the National Committee to Combat Illicit Trafficking in Industrial Products to improve the system of labelling products made of natural fur.

On March 26, 2019, Naberezhnye Chelny saw the opening of a Brandsteel metal processing service centre for EPS (Eco Pickled Surface) metal cleaning using hi-tech equipment. This centre launched by Kama-Trade Tatarstan is a resident of the Naberezhnye Chelny Priority Social and Economic Development Area. The main metal supplier is the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works.

The EPS line is represented by compact, silent, eco-friendly, and automatically controlled equipment. The implemented process line is unique both in Russia and in Europe. Such lines are only operated in such countries as the USA, Mexico, Korea, and China.

“The services of the metalworking centre are of prime interest for automotive enterprises of Russia and Belarus, for example, GAZ Group, MAZ, KAMAZ and others,” said Ilya Davydov, Director General of Accuride Wheels Russia.

Today, within the regular Polymer Day, a discussion took place on the main provisions of the programme related to the production and processing of polymers. The Tatarstan Ministry of Industry and Trade participates in the creation of the Programme for Petrochemical Industry Development in Tatarstan until 2024, which is being elaborated by Tatneftekhiminvest-Holding.

The event was attended by representatives of polymer manufacturers such as Nizhnekamskneftekhim and Kazanorgsintez; polymer processing was represented by major companies Danaflex, Nefis Cosmetics, SafPlast, Tatkhimplast, and Polimatiz. The audience also heard the executives of RtsiKhimTech, the Union of Plastics Processers, the Technopolis Himgrad, and the representatives of KNRTU, a leading educational institution in the field of polymer chemistry.

In his welcoming speech, Deputy Minister Aleksey Savelchev spoke about the action plan for the petrochemical industry development in Russia until 2025. Director General of Tatneftekhiminvest-Holding Rafinat Yarullin made a report on the development prospects of the Tatarstan’s petrochemical complex.  

In conclusion, the participants listened to all major processers who spoke about their prospects in polymer processing and industry’s challenges related to the materials pricing, measures of government support, and maintaining product quality.

Today, Deputy Minister Almaz Khusainov held meetings with heads of enterprises in the two major industrial cities of Tatarstan, Naberezhnye Chelny and Nizhnekamsk. The meetings dealt with the implementation of such national projects as the International Cooperation and Exports and the Labour Productivity and Employment Support.

It is important to note that the International Cooperation and Exports national project will support enterprises that implement corporate competitiveness improvement programmes (CCIP), i.e. the programmes of the organisation’s activities aimed at increasing competitiveness, production output, and sales of their products.

Such enterprises may be given preferential loans for the creation of export-oriented productions, post-export financing, factoring, loans to foreign buyers of the company's products.

Requirements for the CCIPs, the procedure for selecting and forming a unified organisation register are governed by the Resolution of the Russian Federation Government No. 191 of February 23, 2019.

Weekly on Wednesdays, the Russian Export Centre holds webinars on the CCIP implementation. Experts answer questions about the preparation of the CCIPs, the timing and procedures for organisations to apply for participation in this programme, and procedures for providing support.

Today, the Technopolis Himgrad hosted a round table discussion on creating a unified interregional centre for registration of medical products and equipment in the Volga Federal District.

The event brought together representatives from more than 35 enterprises of the pharmaceutical and medical industry of Tatarstan, Moscow, Bashkortostan, Mordovia, Udmurtia, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, as well as from the Office of the Federal Accreditation Service in the Volga Federal District, the Tatarstan’s territorial authority of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Health Care, the Tatarstan Ministry of Health, and the PharmMedPolis of Tatarstan. The meeting was chaired by Deputy Minister Aleksey Savelchev.

During the meeting, the participants discussed the issues of creating an interregional centre for the registration of medical devices and equipment in Kazan, of training professionals in the field of registration of medical devices, and other issues.

Medical sector experts from other regions studied the products of the Technopolis Himgrad residents at a dedicated exhibition and made a tour of the pharmaceutical and medical industry facilities located in the Technopolis.

Starting from April 2019, Kazanorgsintez will start the industrial production of metallocene linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE). Up to this moment, PE processers had to use only foreign grades of this product, as domestic equivalents were not presented at the market. Kazanorgsintez will become the only producer of metallocene polyethylene in Russia. Introduction of domestic grades to the market will allow reducing deficiency of metallocene products and making them available for a wide range of polymer processers.

Metallocene linear polyethylene is applied to produce stretch films, stretch hood films, general purpose films of high durability, films for lamination, agricultural films, and as well applied independently or as additive to other PE types.

At a new stage of metallocene product development, Kazanorgsintez sets a goal to offer to the community of processers the highest quality product that would be competitive to metallocene LLDPE grades from such world brands as Sabic and ExxonMobil.

Kazanorgsintez is one of the largest enterprises of Russia (part of the TAIF Group). It produces 40% of all Russia’s PE and 100% of domestic polycarbonate. Its portfolio of products includes polyethylene, PE pipes, phenol, acetone, bisphenol A, polycarbonates. The company (with an annual output of 1.7 million MT) is the largest PE exporter among Russia’s producers supplying its products to 31 countries.

Based on information by Kazanorgsintez press service