OREANDA-NEWS. Gazprom Neft is the first Russian producer to begin producing road bitumen in compliance with the requirements of a new preliminary national standard . The enhanced-quality bitumen is produced by the Moscow Oil Refinery.

The new preliminary standard* ordered by the Federal Road Agency (Rosavtodor) became effective in April 2013. The standard applies heightened requirements to the basic properties of bitumens, including viscosity, crack resistance and rutting resistance, as well as the durability of road surfaces that consist of the bitumens. Application of the new bitumens will result in a significant improvement in the quality of road surfaces and an increase in the mean time between repairs.

Rosavtodor recommends bitumens that the meet the requirements of the new standard for use in construction of motor roads in Russia's Central and Northwestern federal districts. The decision of whether to apply the standard in the rest of the country will be made based on the results of monitoring the enhanced-quality bitumens' behaviour. The monitoring is planned to continue for the next three years.