9 December 2010. The Board of Directors of the SIBUR Holding has decided to voluntarily liquidate the legal entity OJSC “AK Sibur” in connection with the basic conditions of a settlement agreement with its creditors, which was concluded in 2002, says Media Center SIBUR LLC.
The OJSC “AK Sibur”, established in 1995, pursued the consolidation of the petrochemical industry in Russia, using borrowed funds that were mainly provided by the Gazprom group. By 2002, the company was facing bankruptcy. In September 2002, The OJSC “AK Sibur” concluded a settlement agreement with its creditors, according to which the company pledged to repay its liabilities, in the amount of more than 27 billion rubles, by the end of 2010.
In December 2005, the amount owed to the Gazprom group were repaid by converting the amount of the debt into shares of the newly established OJSC “SIBUR Holding”, to which the ownership of all manufacturing assets and management activities of the OJSC “AK Sibur”were transferred.
At present, the OJSC “AK Sibur”, which was effectively a subsidiary of the SIBUR Holding, has fulfilled all of its contractual obligations according to the settlement agreement and, following the transfer of the outstanding funds to creditors and tax authorities by the end of 2010, the company shall cease to exist.
SIBUR is the leader of petrochemistry in Russia and Eastern Europe. The Company operates across the entire petrochemical process chain from gas processing to the production of monomers and plastics, mineral fertilizers, tyres and industrial rubber items, as well as the processing of plastics.
SIBUR produces over 2000 different brands of products. The Company processes more than half of APG and produces 23% of propylene, 23% of polypropylene, 17% of polyethylene, from 30 to 49% of different rubbers, 34% of tires, 16% of nitrogen fertilizers, and considerable part of other petrochemical products in Russian market.
SIBUR incorporates plants that employ over 50 000 people in 20 regions of Russia. The Company is managed along product-division lines – Hydrocarbon Feedstock, Synthetic Rubbers, Plastics and Organic Synthesis Products, Mineral Fertilisers and Tyres.