Further investments in Russia

Air Liquide is pursuing its development in Russia as the Group will build and operate a new Air Separation Unit in the Special Economic Zone “Alabuga”. The ASU will have a production capacity of 40 tonnes per day of gaseous oxygen to supply by pipeline its new customer Preiss-Daimler-Tatneft’s fiberglass production unit and around 200 tonnes per day of liquid oxygen and liquid nitrogen to supply customers in the region by road.

The Special Economic Zone “Alabuga”, located 900 km east of Moscow, in the Republic of Tatarstan was created in 2005 to contribute to the development of the economies of the Republic of Tatarstan and the Russian Federation. This dynamic zone which aims at facilitating the development of major industrial projects already hosts nine companies and should reach 40 in the future.

The overall investment by Air Liquide is around €35 million for the production facilities and for the supply chain altogether. The commissioning of the unit will take place in the first half of 2011.

Guy Salzgeber, Vice-President European Industrial Business and member of the Group’s Executive Committee, declared: “The Russian market presents an attractive growth potential and Air Liquide intends to continue its development in this country. In the present context, we believe this investment will contribute to draw even more dynamism to the economy of the region. This project is in accordance with the Group’s long-term vision which aims to capture tomorrow’s growth in Emerging economies.”