Gazprom Neft, in partnership with SIBUR, and with the support of the Federal Highways Agency, Rosavtodor and state company Russian Highways (Avtodor), has held the fifth cross-sectoral conference, “Bitumens and PMBs: Key Questions, 2016”. A record number of participants took part in this year’s event, including representatives from Russia’s leading highways construction companies, with more than 300 people representing almost 200 companies from 10 countries worldwide.

The business content of the programme this year included, for the first time, questions on the application of modern bitumen materials in airport transport infrastructure: as well as fine-tuning regulation governing this area, experience in the use of cement- and asphalt-concrete coverings in airport facilities was also discussed. Specialists from Gazprom Neft’s bitumens business, Gazpromneft Bitumen Materials, presented on the production and usage of cutting-edge bitumen materials at the company’s newly acquired asset, NOVA-Brit LLC, located in Vyazma. This facility, unique in its product range and research and development potential, produces bitumen products for highways and airport construction utilising the latest technologies available in Russia, all of which can be successfully used in place of competitive foreign equivalents.

The most important issues in highways construction were discussed over the course of the two-day event: the latest changes to the regulatory framework underpinning the Customs Union, and its further fine-tuning and improvement, as well as global and domestic experience in the use of bitumens and PMBs, and the adoption and implementation of innovations in the highways industry.

On opening this fifth cross-industry conference, Anatoly Cherner, Gazprom Neft Deputy CEO for Logistics, Processing and Sales, commented: “Five years ago, when we were developing the concept of the first conference, we set ourselves the task of establishing a forum at which all stakeholders in the development of the domestic highways industry could come together, discuss ongoing trends, and take practical steps on the most important issues facing the sector. This event has now become a highly effective instrument in addressing the issues facing the industry today.”

Gazpromneft Bitumen Materials (Gazpromneft BM LLC) is a subsidiary of Gazprom Neft, specialising in the production and sale of bitumen products. Established in October 2014, the company now holds a leading position on the Russian bitumens market. Sales of bitumen products through Gazpromneft-BM LLC total 1.7 million tonnes per year.

With production facilities located in Moscow, Omsk, Vyazma, and the Yaroslavl and Ryazan Oblasts, as well as Kazakhstan and Serbia, the company’s products include road, construction and roofing bitumens, as well as polymer-modified bitumens and binders (specifically G-Way Styrelf), and bitumen mastics, sealants and emulsions. The company’s recently acquired bitumens plant in Ryazan is the most significant producer of PMBs in Russia.

Gazprom Neft uses a variety of transport solutions to ensure the supply of bitumen materials throughout Russia, the CIS, and abroad. The company’s facilities in Omsk and Ryazan are equipped with specialist packaging production lines allowing the transportation of bitumen products throughout the country’s most remote and inaccessible regions.