Russia’s Sveza will not build 2.8 billion pulp mill on the banks of Rybinsk Reservoir

Photo: Ria Novosti Alexander Galperin

Sveza, one of Russia’s largest timber holdings, owned by the Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov has refused from the building of the US$2.8 billion pulp mill on the banks of the Rybinsk Reservoir, a water reservoir on the Volga River

 

Currently the company, which has the status of the world's largest plywood producer is working on alternative options for building of the plant.

 

This has been recently confirmed Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which together with the sovereign wealth fund Mubadala from the UAE announced their plans to participate in the project a while ago.

 

 

According to initial plans of the partners, the plant with a capacity of 1.3 million tons of pulp per year would be built on the banks of the Rybinsk reservoir in the Vologda region. However in March 2020, Russia’s Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said he considered as unreasonable to build an enterprise in this place.

 

According to Dmitriev, while the partners were ready to start building of the plant it is important to take into account all environmental issues of the project.

 

As head of Sveza Anatoly Frishman, previously told in an interview with the Russian RBC business paper that initially several options for the location of the plant were considered, while the environmental protection system of the Rybinsk project "has no analogues at all in the world." According to him, it has a four-stage water treatment system and is consistent with all existing best available technologies.

By: Eugen Gerden