MOSCOW (MRC) -- Czech Republic-based oil distribution company Unipetrol has awarded two separate contracts to Linde Engineering and Technip for conducting reconstruction work at the company's damaged ethylene plant in Zaluzi, said the producer on its site.
Under the deal, German group Linde Engineering will provide engineering, procurement and construction management for the reconstruction of the plant, and Technip will supply technological units including four new pyrolysis furnaces for the same plant. Financial detail of the deal has not been disclosed.
An accident that occurred in October damaged the plant, and Unipetrol expects to operate the reconstructed facility by next year.
We are doing our maximum in order to put the Ethylene unit into operation in the shortest possible term."
Restarting of partial operation at the ethylene plant that includes petrochemical production and an increase in the capacity of the Litvinov refinery is expected to be completed by July next year, and the remaining part of the plant is expected to be operational by October next year."
Unipetrol Board of Directors chairman and CEO Marek Switajewski said: "We are doing our maximum in order to put the Ethylene unit into operation in the shortest possible term. The involvement of internationally recognised and experienced companies Linde and Technip is a quality guarantee of repair works and should maximally contribute to compliance with a set schedule."
As MRC reported earlier, Unipetrol's cracker with the capacity of 545,000 tonnes of ethylene per year was last taken off-stream from 20 June to 6 July because of technical issues at its production.
Unipetrol , a.s. is a group of companies operating in the petrochemical industry in the Czech Republic. In 2005 Unipetrol became a part of the PKN ORLEN Group, the largest oil processor in Central Europe. The UNIPETROL Group is oriented mostly towards oil processing, fuel distribution and petrochemical production. In all of these business areas the Unipetrol Group is among the key players both in the Czech Republic and on the Central European market. The Group ranks among the leading firms in the Czech Republic in terms of its revenues, and employs almost 4,000 people.