Linde Group awarded a major contract to supply an olefin plant by PJSC Nizhnekamskneftekhim (NKNK), a member of the TAIF Group. As part of this major contract, Linde is responsible for licensing, design, material procurement and technical engineering consulting for the plant in Nizhnekamsk, located in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.

NKNK’s new olefin complex will be built in Nizhnekamsk, Tatarstan. In the first expansion stage, it will have the capacity to produce 600 000 tpy of ethylene and over 600 000 tpy of other chemical products.

The annual production capacity will be doubled in the future through the addition of a further plant. Linde also aims to support NKNK in the subsequent project phases.

The new plant is a naphtha cracker that thermally breaks down hydrocarbon feedstocks into olefins such as ethylene, propene and butadiene. These are then used as feedstocks for manufacturing various plastics. The new olefin plant is scheduled to go on stream in 2022.

A agreement covering strategic cooperation between Linde and the TAIF Group was concluded in the presence of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, Minister President of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer, and President of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov.

Professor Dr Aldo Belloni, Chief Executive Officer of Linde AG, said that this large scale project, coupled with plans for a strategic alliance with the TAIF Group, gives them a strong footing to position themselves for further contracts in the industrial gases and plant engineering sector in this key Eastern European growth market. Also their successful collaboration will take them to a whole new level.