Easier to Buy than to Build
Authorities of any region having no refinery dream about getting one. Everyone knows that such enterprises are usually the biggest tax payers in the regions of their operation. The Bryansk region is no different. According to Interfax, yesterday the industrial committee of the local Duma approved the project of RussNeft on the construction of a refinery in the region with a capacity of 6 million tons of crude oil a year and construction budget exceeding 50 billion rubles.
Chairman of the committee George Abushenko said that the deputies had “thoroughly studied” the seven-volume feasibility report and came to the unanimous opinion that it was necessary to do all for the refinery to be built. And it is no joke as it will allow the region to get out of the grant-in-aid category.
However the Bryansk deputies seem to be late in showing their enthusiasm. RussNeft applied to the local authorities for permission to build a refinery in October when the company had no processing capacities of its own and was exploring possibilities of acquiring such including by way of starting a construction project. However the situation developed in a different way. In the middle of December the company announced completion of the deals on acquisition of two refineries which were Orsknefteorgsintez and Krasnodarekoneft with 10 million ton processing capacity. President and main owner of RussNeft Mikhail Gutseriev said at a press-conference in the end of the year that the possibility of constructing a refinery in the Bryansk region was still examined but it was easier now to buy a refinery than to build one which might take nearly five years and, according to him, it was quite a long time period. And it is true that the two refineries cost Gutseriev nearly $150 million which is according to expert estimations. Hardly is he going to invest almost ten times as much in building one more.