OREANDA-NEWS. July 16, 2015. TMK, one of the world's leading suppliers of tubular products for the oil and gas industry, has held an opening ceremony for the launch of the construction of its R&D facility in the Skolkovo Innovation Centre. Dmitry Pumpyanskiy, Chairman of TMK’s Board of Directors, and Viktor Vekselberg, Skolkovo Foundation President supervised the ceremony.

In addition to the management of TMK and the Foundation, representatives of the leading oil and gas companies and technical universities, as well as heads of R&D organisations also attended the ceremony.

The facility will focus on developing efficient technologies for oil and gas exploration and production, transportation of hydrocarbons, and delivering new solutions to improve energy efficiency in the iron and steel industry, as well as developing and certifying new premium connections. The 15 thousand square meter premises of the future facility will host laboratories and R&D equipment, along with an administrative and office space. TMK's R&D facility is scheduled to come online in Q1 2017. Investments in the project total RUB 3 bn.

The construction of the R&D facility was agreed on with the Skolkovo Foundation in April 2013. In 2014, TMK signed an agreement with the Skolkovo Joint Directorate on Assets and Services Management for the Centre for Elaboration and Commercialisation of New Technologies on the design and construction of ТМК's research and development facility in the Skolkovo Innovation Centre.

The Skolkovo facility will be TMK's third and most important R&D site that will complete the innovation platform combining the Russian Research Institute for the Tube and Pipe Industries (RosNITI) located in Chelyabinsk (Russia) and specialising in pipe production and testing technologies, and of TMK's Houston-based R&D centre (USA) that has unique capabilities for developing and testing new pipe types, as well as accreditation as an ISO-certified testing laboratory for premium threaded connections.

"Establishing the third facility is an important step in boosting TMK's R&D potential. One of the facility's main features will be its capacity to conduct full-scale ISO 12835 / ISO 13679 CAL III and CAL IV tests of premium threaded connections for technically advanced exploration and production of hydrocarbons in challenging environments. We hope that the TMK's R&D facility will contribute to fostering innovation in the pipe industry and materials science, both for the benefit of the Company and the rest of the oil and gas market," said Dmitry Pumpyanskiy during the ceremony.

"We are happy to welcome such a reputable company as TMK to Skolkovo's corporate community. I am confident that cooperation in implementing TMK's most ambitious projects will yield results that will benefit the entire Russian economy. These projects will also undoubtedly provide fertile ground for university graduates and young scientists to apply their knowledge," added Viktor Vekselberg.