OREANDA-NEWS. January 12, 2011. Evraz Group (LSE: EVR) (“Evraz” or the “Company”) and Praxair Rus, a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc., one of the three largest worldwide industrial gases companies and a technological leader in this field, have signed a long-term contract for supply of industrial gases to NTMK, Evraz’s steel mill in the Urals, Russia.

Pursuant to the contract, Praxair Rus will build new modern air separation plants on the NTMK site and will supply NTMK with more than 3,000 tonnes of oxygen, nitrogen and argon daily. The new plants are scheduled to commence operation in late 2013. As a result, the Company will also increase its energy efficiency by more than 30%.

Dmitry Sotnikov, Evraz’s Vice President and Head of the Urals Division, said, “Optimisation and efficiency improvement are among Evraz’s priorities. Cooperation with Praxair will allow Evraz to focus on its core business and will enhance the reliability of industrial gas supplies to NTMK.”

“Praxair is pleased to be selected by Evraz to be part of their programme to modernise and expand its facility in Nizhny Tagil,” said Todd Skare, president of Praxair Europe. “Outsourcing of the gas supply allows Evraz to focus on their core skills of steel making while gaining operational reliability and savings over the life of the facility.”