RISING TO NEW HEIGHTS

2017 was a milestone year for Togliattiazot. The plant is pressing on with the revamp project, and at the year end ToAZ output the 80 millionth tonne of product since the beginning of its operations.

Besides, the Togliatti-based company has arranged a lot of charitable, environmental and social events. Its proactive and successful work over the last years resulted in the company’s triumph of being included in Russia’s 200 largest private companies.

Attaining strategic objectives

This year, under the large-scale capacity revamp programme worth of RUB26+bn since 2012, the chemical company has implemented a few major projects. These include major overhauls of ammonia units 2 and 5, overhaul of Russia’s largest ammonia storage tank, and a revamp of the second carbamide unit.

Upgrading the second carbamide unit allowed the plant to increase carbamide production, which means the company is succeeding in accomplishing the strategic objective of reducing reliance on exports. The repair of the cryogenic storage tank capable of holding up to 30,000 tonnes of liquid ammonia allowed ToAZ to drastically reduce the costs related to maintaining ammonia at the required temperatures and to substantially decrease losses of gaseous ammonia during storage, thus improving production economies in general and the industrial safety level. The major repair of ammonia unit 5 covered almost all the unit components, with the unit capacity rising to 1,750-1,800 tonnes of ammonia per day while fuel consumption lowered.

In addition, the unit can now operate at higher loads. An important event for the plant last year was holding public consultations on pre-assessing environmental impacts of the new ammonia unit. The project developed as part of the company’s comprehensive investment programme was aimed at building an unmatched plant with a daily capacity of 1,860 tonnes (about 680,000 tonnes per year). Emissions from the plant were expected to account for less than 0.5% of the existing production. In April, the project was appreciated by discussants, and state environmental supervisors from Togliatti City Administration, who attended the consultations, recommended using the project deliverables as a tutorial for specialist colleges.

Togliattiazot’s achievements in 2017 were recognised at high level. The company was included in the Forbes ranking of Russia’s 200 largest private companies. In order to improve its performance in the next year, the company will continue to embrace innovative technologies, enhance operational reliability of assets, improve systems for environmental monitoring of atmospheric air, water and soil, and decrease environmental externalities.

Investing in culture and arts

In the social sphere, the company continued to carry out projects aimed at improving the quality of life in the urban environment. The company has traditionally been supporting the festivals of significance to Togliatti and arranging events to promote culture and creativity. This year, the company sponsored, already by tradition, Classics OPEN FEST and Zhiguli Cherry festivals.

The key project was a new format of the educational project “Auditorium Intellectual Club “Chemistry of the Word” implemented at the Togliattiazot Community Centre. The project is based on the plant’s previous successful educational initiative - the Literature Orchestra lecture circuit - which was recognised as the “Project of the Year” as part of the city’s public cultural action “Inspiration”. In its new format the project turned into a true auditorium with interesting lectures on a variety of topics, while retaining its important advantage, i.e. accessibility for everyone.