OREANDA-NEWS. September 30, 2013. Sistema JSFC ("Sistema") (LSE: SSA), the largest publicly-traded diversified holding company in Russia and the CIS, announces that its subsidiary JSC United Petrochemical Company ("UPC") has signed a joint venture ("JV") agreement with Mexican company Grupo Petrotemex, S.A. de C.V., a subsidiary of Alpek, S.A.B. de C.V. ("Alpek") for the construction of an integrated purified terepthalic acid (PTA) - polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plant in Ufa, Bashkortostan.

Under the agreement, Alpek and UPC will elaborate a detailed business plan to determine the project's feasibility. Alpek and UPC will each invest US\\$10 million in the completion of the plant's evaluation stage. Construction is subject to both companies approving the business plan.

The new facility is expected to be an IntegRex® PTA - PET site dedicated to serve the Russian market with a maximum installed capacity of 600,000 tonnes PTA and 600,000 tonnes PET. The parties are negotiating the supply of the required material - Paraxylene - with JSOC Bashneft.

The European Commission has approved the establishment of the JV. Implementation of the project will be subject to additional approvals from governmental authorities.