OREANDA-NEWS. August 11, 2009. National company KazMunaiGaz (Astana), bonds of which are listed on Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), provided KASE with a press release, reported the press-centre of KASE:

On 4 August of this year in Almaty the "Trade House "KazMunaiGaz" JSC (a wholly-owned subsidiary of NC "KazMunayGas" JSC) signed the agreement on purchase and sale of the 100% participation interest in the authorized capital of the Refinery Company RT LLP that is the proprietor of the assets and the owner of a 58% stake in the "Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant" JSC. The owner of the remaining 42% stake in the "Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant" JSC is the State Property and Privatization Committee under the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The deal has been effected through TH лKazMunaiGaz N.V (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the TH "KazMunaiGaz" JSC).

This acquisition has been carried out for the purposes of an instruction of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Comprehensive Plan to Develop the Refineries of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2009-2015.

The principal objective of the Comprehensive Plan is energy security of the Republic of Kazakhstan as related to full satisfaction of the domestic demand for the main types of refined products - petrol, jet fuel and diesel, integrated development of the refining industry. At the same time, the Comprehensive Plan sets objectives of achieving dynamic development of the competitive capacity of enterprises based on introduction of new machinery, new technology and
increasing the performance and economic returns level.

According to the plan, development and state expertise review of the feasibility study for the Pavlodar PC Plant modernization and upgrade will be undertaken during the fourth quarter of this year.

For reference: The Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant was constructed in 1978, its design capacity for crude processing is 6 mln. tons of crude per annum.

The plant operates Claus sulfur, bitumen production units, delayed cokers, a KT-1 residue deeper conversion complex. The Nelson Complexity Index is currently 7.3; there are plans to bring it to 8.6 in 2014 after start-up of the hydrogen unit and implementation of the investment program to provide Euro IV product quality.

JSC "National Company "KazMunayGas" is the Kazakh operator for exploration, production, refining and transportation of hydrocarbons, representing the interests of the state in Kazakhstan's petroleum sector. 100 percent of the shares of JSC NC "KazMunayGas" belong to JSC "Sovereign Welfare Fund "Samruk-Kazyna".

"Trade House "KazMunaiGaz" JSC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the NC "KazMunayGas" JSC. Among the company's assets there are Atyrau Refinery (99.3 %), Shymkent Refinery (50 %), and the Rompetrol Company (100 %). Key focus areas: management of oil-refining assets, exports of crude and refined products, development of the refined products retail chain.