Sibur merges rubber and plastics divisions in group restructure

Moscow, Russia – Sibur has merged its Synthetic Rubbers and Plastics and Organic Synthesis divisions into a single business unit named Plastics, Elastomers and Organic Synthesis Division, the company announced 5 April.

Another Sibur unit, Uralorgsintez has become part of the Plastics, Elastomers and Organic Synthesis division, to be headed by Pavel Lyakhovich, Sibur’s management board member and managing director.

Sibur's annual production of synthetic rubber is around 400,000 tonnes and includes polybutadiene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber and styrene-butadience block copolymers.

The moves are part of a series of organisational and managerial changes at Sibur, which include the appointment of Mikhail Karisalov, formerly Sibur’s executive director, as chief operating officer.

Another focus of the reorganisation includes the group’s Tobolsk production site due to an increase in gas fractionation and polymerisation capacities, integration of power generation assets and construction of the new ZapSibNeftekhim complex.

Sibur has decided to make the Tobolsk site a standalone business unit similar to a division.  It will be headed by Konstantin Belkin, Sibur’s management board member and managing director of the Tobolsk production site.

ZapSibNeftekhim, said Sibur, is expected to be “the largest modern petrochemicals facility in Russia” and will include the construction of a steam cracker with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mpta) of ethylene, about 500ktpa of propylene and 100ktpa of butane-butylene fraction per year.

According to Sibur, there will also be units producing various grades of polyethylene and polypropylene with a total capacity of 2mtpa per year.