OREANDA-NEWS. On 19 August 2009 was announced, that Mill–5000 is supposed to be launched on OMK's Vyksa project site in the Nizhni Novgorod Region in mid-2011. At present, onsite construction is under way. In August 2009, it is planned to start the acceptance procedure for core process equipment, which will be completed in late 2010.

The Mill–5000 project will enable the Company to feed broad plates of in-house manufacture to large-diameter pipe (LDP) production at Vyksa Steel Works (VSW). OMK plans to invest 47 billion rubles in this project. The delivery of equipment manufactured by SMS-Siemag and the contract with the general contractor, Strabag, will be financed with long-term loans under insurance coverage provided by German and Austrian export and lending agencies.

VSW is Russia's largest LDP manufacturer. Based on the 1H09 results, VSW produced 464 thousand tonnes of large-diameter pipes, or about 60% of Russia's total LDP production market. United Metallurgical Company (OMK) is one of Russia's largest producers of pipes, railroad wheels, and other metal products for energy, transport, and industrial companies. OMK comprises 7 largest enterprises in the metallurgical sector. The OMK Pipe-Rolling Division comprises Vyksa Steel Works (Nizhni Novgorod Region), Almetyevsk Pipe Plant (Republic of Tatarstan), and Trubodetal (Chelyabinsk Region); the OMK Steel Works Division comprises Chusovoy Metallurgical Works and Gubakha Coke (Perm Territory), Shchelkovo Steel Works (Moscow Region) and Casting and Rolling Complex (Nizhni Novgorod Region)

In 2008, OMK products accounted for 16% of pipes consumed in Russia, including 35% of large diameter pipes, 63% of railroad wheels, and 80% of automobile springs. In 2008, the OMK enterprises produced 1.5 million tonnes of pipes of various sizes and 783 thousand railroad wheels. The main consumers of OMK products include such leading Russian and foreign companies as Gazprom, Russian Railways, LUKOIL, Transneft, Surgutneftegas, Rosneft, TNK-BP, ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell, General Electric, and Samsung. OMK supplies its products to 20 countries.