OREANDA-NEWS. June 20, 2011. In the frame of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2011, Dmitry Lisenkov, Managing Director of RUSNANO and Alex de Valukhoff, General Director of Lafarge Cement in Russia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding.

This Memorandum signifies the intention of the two parties to begin working together in the development of innovative and sustainable construction materials designed to provide more value for customers across Russia.

"We are delighted to sign a strategic agreement with RUSNANO, says Alex de Valukhoff, GM, Lafarge Cement Russia. — It illustrates our mutual will to collaborate with the aim to introduce joint plants producing high performance mineral additives and fillers. To foster innovation in sustainable development projects and industry modernization are amongst our company’s key priorities".

"The modern construction industry faces a significant number of challenges, the first of which are energy efficiency, materials durability and environment safety. Therefore, innovation in technology for the construction materials production has transformed traditional materials such as cement, concrete and gypsum into more technological and functional ones. In this field, nanotechnology development enables to reach new levels of qualities. Taking into consideration Lafarge’s global scientific and research expertise, we see a great prospects in the collaboration with Lafarge in the area of high technology materials production in Russia," — comments Dmitry Lisenkov