Rosneft and ChemChina have signed a Heads of Agreement to build a joint venture polymer coatings and paints plant in Russia. The companies will set up the jv in the Bolshoy Kamen priority development territory in Primorsky Kra, where a 50,000 t/y plant, which will also incorporate R&D facilities, will be built. Both parties will now conduct a feasibility study on the project and perform the necessary preparations to establish the venture.

The facility will produce special marine and arctic-vessel coatings and will be the largest in Russia, according to the oil company. Coatings produced at the plant will be used at the recently completed Zvezda shipbuilding complex in the country’s Far East. The complex, an extension of the Zvezda shipyard, has signed several contracts with Rosneft and various partners to construct ice-class ships, specialized vessels, offshore platforms and other marine equipment.

Rosneft and ChemChina will also establish a working group to develop new polymer coatings for ships of various classes, including arctic-class.

Financial details of the jv and associated project were not disclosed.

This latest agreement follows others signed between the firms in June and September of this year for projects in Russia. One is the Eastern Petrochemical (Fepco) refinery and petrochemical project in Nakhoda, eastern Russia, while the other relates to a proposed gas processing and petrochemicals/polymers complex in eastern Siberia.