Work is not off at days off

02.05.2013

The construction works of the SEZ "Alabuga" infrastructure don’t stop even on May holidays.

On May, 2nd the construction site of the Industrial park "Synergy", the unique to the Volga region Distribution substation "RP-1, 2", the cottage complex “Tri medvedya” and the international school were inspected by the general director of JSC "Kamgesenergostroy" Ramil Shaydullin, as well as by the directors of contracting companies.

As it was noted by CEO of the SEZ "Alabuga" Timur Shagivaleev during the detour and the follow-up meeting, the growing number of resident companies requires the ongoing work to improve the engineering, transport and social infrastructure of the Special economic zone "Alabuga".

← →

Rockwool produced one million Light Batts Scandic insulation materials in Alabuga

24.04.2013

Today ROCKWOOL plant in Yelabuge produced its 1,000,000 package of insulation material called Light Batts Scandic. This is a new generation thermal insulation product, first produced in May of 2012, and almost after a year it gained a huge popularity among private consumers and earned an appreciation of construction market experts. ROCKWOOL company holds a patent on this innovative development.

The success of Light Batts Scandic is associated with a new generation technologies, vacuum package capabilities, thanks to which the material can be compressed to 60%, resulting in material transportation savings up to 3 times. The product is presented in two sizes – in standard one, fitting easily in a car trunk, and an enlarged XL size, allowing to expedite installation process, which also was one of the greatest advantages of this product. In addition to that, and precisely for Light Batts Scandic, the company developed a colorful and informative packaging with all the necessary insulation material properties and usage data on it.

"A significant experience of ROCKWOOL company in designing new products has enabled us to present to the market this really revolutionary insulation product. In addition to its outstanding technical characteristics, Light Batts Scandic is a health-friendly and long-term product, with a service life of at least 100 years. Moreover, we have conducted numerous studies of consumer preferences and wishes to create an attractive and convenient packaging and make the material as comfortable as possible to use. On ROCKWOOL YouTube channel one may watch the videos presenting the advantages of Light Batts Scandic, instructing how properly to install it. We are proud of our product and are pleased that thousands of Russian dachas and country houses are insulated with Light Batts Scandic", - says Irina Sadchikova, marketing and strategic development director at ROCKWOOL Russia.

American dream localized in Russia

11.04.2013

Today Ford Sollers factory, located in the Special economic zone "Alabuga", introduced a first Ford Explorer “dream car”.

The event was attended by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and CEO of Ford Sollers Ted Cannis.

Ford Explorer vehicle production launch was a first step towards Yelabuga (SEZ “Alabuga”) Ford-Sollers plant capacity modernization. At the same time, the company managed to switch to the production of this car in a very short period of time – in less than a year since the assembly start.

Full cycle production includes welding, painting, body assembly and quality control.

← →

Armstrong construction start in “Alabuga”

03.04.2013

Today Armstrong company had a groundbreaking ceremony of a new plant in “Alabuga” Special economic zone. Production start and first production output is planned by the end of 2014.

The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, «Armstrong World Industries» President Matt Espe, CEO of JSC “SEZ” Michael Trushko and other guests.

Armstrong is a world leader in manufacturing and design of ceiling systems, floor coverings and home furnishing solutions and is a founder of suspended ceiling systems. The company has a half-century long management and production experience.

The total investment volume into the project will reach $ 100 million (3.1 billion rubles). The company will be located on a land plot of 10 hectares. The annual planned production capacity of the plant - 22 million square meters of ceiling tiles. The plant in the SEZ "Alabuga" will be the first plant of the company in Russia for the production of mineral wool suspension systems. Production start and production output is planned at the end of 2014.

As the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov mentioned: "The project of Armstrong will be given a maximum support not only during construction, but also in the promotion of world-famous products of the company."

The head of RusSEZ Michael Trushko : "We are very pleased that Armstrong started the project in the SEZ "Alabuga ". For us, this venture is a powerful industrial anchor, which, on the one hand, will enrich Russian industry with new standards of quality, and on the other hand - will strengthen positions of RusSEZ and therefore Russia in international capital markets and technologies. We have provided and will provide all the necessary support to Armstrong company. And we hope that business partners of the current residents will pay an attention to special economic zones of Russia, where investors are provided with most favorable investment conditions to develop their business. "

First stone laying ceremony and a commemorative signatures affixing on ceiling tiles, similar to those that will be produced in the future “Alabuga” SEZ, served a symbolic sign of the groundbreaking.

Chief Executive Officer and President of «Armstrong World Industries» Matt Espe: "I want to express my personal gratitude to the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov for his support and the support of the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan and the SEZ “Alabuga”. I also want to thank the team of Armstrong of America and Russia, the leaders of the project who brought a life to the project. Thank you. "

← →

Ford crash-test

21.03.2013

Ford Motor Company won three out of a possible seven 2012 Euro NCAP best-in-class safety awards – more than any other manufacturer – with wins for new Kuga, new Transit Custom and new B-MAX.

New Kuga topped the SUV sector, Transit Custom triumphed in the Business and Family Vans class, and B-MAX was the joint winner in the small MPV category.

“Safety is a core value at Ford,” said Stuart Southgate, Ford automotive safety director. “For Euro NCAP to evaluate our vehicles and determine that they are segment leaders in their safety assessment is a wonderful recognition of the values and talent of our designers and engineers.”

Euro NCAP is Europe’s largest independent authority on vehicle safety. The awards reflect vehicle crash test performance and availability of advanced safety technologies. In 2012 new B-MAX, new Fiesta, new Kuga and new Transit Custom were each awarded a maximum five-star rating under Euro NCAP’s new crash test scoring system; and Ranger and Focus retained five-star ratings awarded in 2011, against more stringent 2012 requirements.

New Kuga achieved a score of 88 per cent for overall protection, the highest-ever rating for a mid-sized SUV. New Transit Custom achieved 77 per cent for overall protection after becoming the first vehicle in its class to earn a five-star Euro NCAP rating that also applies to the new Tourneo Custom people mover. New B-MAX achieved 83 per cent for overall protection. Ranger is the first and only pickup to achieve a five-star rating.

← →

A step away from resident status

15.03.2013

The Supervisory Board of the Special Economic Zone "Alabuga" held a regular meeting to consider two new companies: Austrian "Gabriel-Chemie" and Russian "Vertical" to obtain a resident status of the SEZ "Alabuga". The event took place in the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The Austrian company "Gabriel-Chemie GmbH" will launch a production of master batches and additives in the Special economic zone "Alabuga". These products are used for coloring or imparting of special properties to plastic products while manufacturing of packaging for food and beverages, general purpose plastic packaging and other products.

As the President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov mentioned, «The Republic of Tatarstan is the largest producer of polymers in Russia. Master batches producing project is extremely important as it will allow polymers to get new consumer properties.»

LLC "Vertical" is a Russian company specializing in manufacturing of concrete products. Concrete and concrete products production in the SEZ "Alabuga" is more of an infrastructural project. Main consumers of the products are considered the residents of the SEZ "Alabuga" that are currently under construction.

Clear business conditions of the Special Economic Zone "Alabuga" facilitated the decision to expand the presence in the SEZ of the current residents: Russian holding "Composite" ("Alabuga-fiber") and the French company "Air Liquide."

A new project of "Composite" holding in the SEZ "Alabuga" involves the construction of a plant for the production of high modulus carbon fiber, called "Composite-VMU." The plant's products will be used in the nuclear industry.

In its turn, the current resident of the SEZ "Alabuga" "Air Liquide" plans to expand the range of its products and organize a new production of hydrogen and hydrogen-nitrogen mixture in the SEZ "Alabuga".

← →

CEO Eelco van Heel presents the current status and future directions for the ROCKWOOL Group as presented in the Annual Report 2012

13.03.2013

In 2012 the Group put full force behind the execution of its Rock the Globe strategy – developed and fine-tuned based upon the assumption that the world economy in general, and the building industry specifically, will remain very challenging in the years to come.

Our core European insulation business will remain the backbone of our success where we are optimising activities on all fronts. This includes more sophisticated and customer oriented routes to market for our products and systems and a major re-engineering of our production set up. We are also focusing keenly on raising market awareness of the unique combination of properties naturally intrinsic to our ROCKWOOL stone wool products. These initiatives are supported by increased efforts in the public affairs area to inform politicians and legislators about the advantages for society of better fire, acoustic and total energy performance of buildings.

We continue to invest heavily in accelerated growth and improved profitability of our non-insulation Systems activities, where innovative new products and systems play an important role.

In order to reduce further the effect of our high exposure to developments in the European market, the Group’s penetration in other geographical areas continues. During 2012, our fourth insulation factory in Russia was commissioned successfully, and decisions were announced to substantially increase capacity in North America as well as Northern China.

The year 2013 will not be an easy one – to say the least. The ROCKWOOL Group is geared managerially, as well as financially, to tackle the challenges head on, and the Group is fully prepared to pick the fruits on the top as well as on the bottom line, as soon as the global economy turns into a positive mode.

Cooperation with machine-tool builders

06.03.2013

Today delegates of an International Forum “Terms and perspectives of creating metal-working machinery manufacturing in the Russian Federation” were introduced to the management of the Special Economic Zone “Alabuga”.

The International Forum that was held in Moscow on March 5 was organized with the support of federal and regional (Republic of Tatarstan) ministries of trade and industry and was aimed at making foreign machine-tool building companies localize their productions in Russia.

A part of delegates – representatives of Austrian, German, Czech and Turkish machine-tool companies that were interested in localizing their manufacturing facilities in Russia landed in Begishevo airport to visit the Special Economic Zone “Alabuga”.

During the visit the guests had an opportunity to talk to their colleagues working in “Preiss-Daimler Tatneft Alabuga Fiberglass” and “Ford Sollers” factories and to see the existing infrastructure of the SEZ “Alabuga”.  

← →

$ Two billion by March 2014

04.03.2013

During the construction start ceremony of the international school "Tri Medvedya" in Yelabuga, held in March 1st, 2013, the representatives of the residents of the SEZ "Alabuga" presented to the President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov a memorial statue with a commitment to invest two billion dollars of actual investments into the implementation of new projects in the Special economic zone by March 2014.

An active construction of plants and equipment delivery by resident companies in the SEZ "Alabuga" make these deadlines realistic. We recall that the first one billion dollars of investments were recorded in August of 2012.

All in all, according to the long-term development strategy, by 2020 the SEZ "Alabuga" plans to attract twelve billion dollars of private investments.

← →