OREANDA-NEWS. A groundbreaking ceremony took place for the USD 1.3-bn Garabogaz Fertilizer Factory to be installed as part of a consortium between Gap Insaat and the Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation. Gurbanguli Berdimuhamedov, Turkmen Head of State, was joined by Ahmet Calik, Calik Holding Chairman of the Board of Directors; Ken Kobayashi, Mitsubishi Corporation Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO; and Terumasa Onaka, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Senior VP, to break the ground fort he the largest fertilizer company in the country.

Operating successfully in the energy, construction and textile industries for 22 years in Turkmenistan and renowned as the first foreign investor in the country, Calik Holding is about to deliver another big project. Introducing more than 100 projects in the homeland Turkmenistan including infrastructure, superstructure and industrial facilities, Calik Holding has now taken action to establish the highest-capacity fertilizer factory in the country. Accordingly, a contract was executed among Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd (MHI), Calik Holding's construction company Gap Insaat and Turkmenhimiya on behalf of the State of Turkmenistan. The agreement includes establishment of a USD 1.3-mn fertilizer factory with production capacity of 3,500 tons of urea and 2,000 tons of ammoniac to the Garabogaz Region near the Caspian Sea. Logistics and relevant infrastructure facilities for the products will also be established as part of the project. Gurbanguli Berdimuhamedov, Turkmen Head of State, broke the ground fort he Garabogaz Ammoniac and Urea Production facility to be financed by the State of Turkmenistan (15%) and Japan Bank of International Cooperation - JBIC (85%).

Planned to be completed in February 2018 and commissioned on full capacity in late May during the same year, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the facility featuring a speech by the Gurbanguli Berdimuhamedov, Turkmen Head of State. He stated that they are dedicated to introduce the latest generation technologies to the national chemical sector in order for Turkmenistan to utilize energy resources at highest productivity. The Head of State Berdimuhamedov explained their target to diversify the energy production based on hydrocarbon in Turkmenistan through these types of industrial facility investments which will enable them to process gas and oil not only as raw materials but as bulk product and end product by processing through high technology to be exported.

Ahmet Calik, Calik Holding Chairman of Board of Directors, spoke at the ceremony stating that they as Calik Holding are very proud and glad to be breaking the ground for the larger fertilizer company 9 years after the establishment of Turkmenistan Ammoniac and Fertilizer Factory in Tecen in 2005 with an annual capacity of 200,000 tons of ammoniac and 350,000 tons of granule urea production.

Garabogaz Ammoniac and Urea Production facility will be built on an area of 600,000 m2 allocated between the road and sea 3.5 km east from the city center of Garabogaz. The construction of road, gas, energy and communication connections of the system as well as the 2.5-km conveyor system and road between the facility and the Bekdas Harbour Pier to where the product will be transferred will be undertaken by Gap Insaat on behalf of the consortium. Upon the commissioning of the facility, it will be the largest fertilizer production factory in Turkmenistan with a daily production capacity of 3,500 tons of granule urea and 2,000 ammoniac. The Japanese Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will jointly undertake responsibility for the installation, licensing of project production units, management of supply process, equipment supply with cutting edge technology and export of products to be manufactured to global markets. Gap Insaat will deliver the basic engineering services as well as the entire construction work and supply, assembly and commissioning of materials accordingly.