OREANDA-NEWS. On May 28, 2015 Belarusian Steel Works (BMZ) commissioned an air separation unit. The investment project was carried out with the credit support of Belarusbank.

Aliaksandr Paliuka, Belarusbank Chairman of the Board reported during the opening procedure that the project was partly financed by the bank’s own funds, and part of the finance came from abroad. In his words, Belarusbank will continue to support projects which contribute to the development of the national economy.

Background information: Air separation unit is expected to relieve the dependence of BMZ on imported raw materials. In particular, it will fully satisfy the plant’s demand for air separation products such as liquid oxygen, which will no longer have to be imported. In addition to oxygen the unit will produce liquid and gasiform nitrogen and argon. The unit’s capacity of 10,000 nm3/h of gasiform oxygen is expected to completely satisfy the needs of BMZ, which will enable enterprise to expand the steel-making output. Part of the products will be supplied to other enterprises of Gomel Region. The newly-commissioned unit created 40 new jobs.

The unit was constructed by joint limited liability company BMZ-GKS which was specially founded for that purpose, with BELMET Handelsgesellschaft m.b.H. (Austria), Belstahl Aussenhandel GmbH (Germany), Iron Trade and Pskovvtormet (Russia) as partners.