Launch declared successful
The new facility was declared open by the Governor of Samara region Vladimir Artyakov and Cosmonaut Alexey Leonov, Vostok Capital Chairman. The new JSC Thermosteps-MTL facility is in line with the latest trends in the governmental energy saving policy. Advanced thermal insulation materials are one of the basic methods that help reduce heat loss in buildings and structures and therefore are an effective energy saving technology. Utilities energy saving is now considered one of the most urgent issues. Thermal insulation materials manufactured by JSC Thermosteps-MTL will be used in new constructions and renovation projects. This is what Mr. Leonov had to say «All you can hear now is just talking – we should do this, we should do that… And here you have a real material that saves 40 per cent of the heat. I am really proud that Vladimir Vladimirovich and I were given an opportunity to press the start button».
A new facility investment project was developed as far back as in 2007 but then had to be suspended due to the nationwide economic downturn. The project was resumed in late 2009 with the support of our loyal partner, RF Savings Bank, Povolzhye branch. «A year ago, when Oleg Podgorny and I came to Savings Bank and said that we would build a new facility, I thought they would just throw us away as the crisis was at its highest at the time. Our sales were at their lowest, the situation in the industry and in the minds was dreadful. But those bankers were real professionals with a good business thinking. They understood that this facility had to be built, and they were one of the key agents in the project. They understood that this project would help them keep a major customer by giving this customer a chance to develop further. So we would like to give our sincere thanks to Savings Bank», concludes Vagan Abgaryan, a partner in Baring Vostok Capital Partners. As a confirmation of his words, Viktor Shchurenkov, Chairman of the RF Savings Bank, Povolzhye branch, added «Dear friends, I am very pleased to see such a facility that had a chance to be launched thanks to the common effort by the factory workers themselves, their great top managers and, naturally, Savings Bank employees. We have many years of working together under our belts. Many of you are most probably able to have a real understanding that project after project in the investment area is an obvious business achievement, progress of any business in any industry».
The new facility became the largest investment project dealing with construction materials in Samara region in 2009-2010. The total value of the project was 1 billion rubles. A number of new jobs were created. «This proves that Samara region is still one of the leading manufacturing areas of the country in such industries as space research, motor industry, construction, construction materials, to name only a few. We set the pace, and it is a very good thing», said Vladimir Artyakov, the Governor of Samara region.
The machines were supplied by the Italian company STM tenova. The new facility capacity is 42 thousand tons of fiber per year. «It is 1,5 times as much as the existing capacity», said Oleg Podgorny, JSC Thermosteps-MTL CEO. Before that JSC Thermosteps-MTL could rely only on one insulant facility, 100% of its output being used for sandwich panels. The new facility will allow JSC Thermosteps-MTL to position basalt rockwool as a separate heat insulation product. The new rockwool manufacturing facility launched by a Russian company can be regarded as a worthy backing of the Russian construction material market. Moreover, the product manufactured at the new facility will be of export quality and will meet the stringiest requirements of the today's heat insulant industry.