Russia-Japan Investment Fund to collaborate on chemical cluster project in Volgograd

Osaka, June 29, 2019 - The Russian partner, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, announces that the RDIF and JBIC IG Partners, jointly advising the Russia-Japan Investment Fund (RJIF, established by RDIF, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and JBIC IG Partners), have agreed, together with AEON Infrastructure Corporation, to collaborate on RJIF's planned investment to construct a methanol plant and create a chemical cluster in Volgograd.

The agreement was signed today in the presence of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. The parties are planning to invest in the project over RUB50 bn. It is expected that construction will begin in early 2020 and becompletedin late 2022.

AEON’s subsidiary GTM ONE has also signed an off-take contract to supply Japan’s Marubeni Corporation with goods produced by the chemical plant. Engineering works will be carried out in accordance with the agreement reached between GTM ONE and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering. The chemical plant’s annual installed capacityis expected to exceed 1 mn tonnes of methanol.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian partner, said:

“Our Japanese partners appreciate the investment attractiveness of the chemical cluster project in Volgograd. Its products will be highly competitive in the global market due to minimal production costs. We look forward to further collaboration with Japanese companies on new projects in Russia”.

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Russian partner is Russia's sovereign wealth fund established in 2011 to make equity co-investments, primarily in Russia, alongside reputable international financial and strategic investors. RDIF acts as a catalyst for direct investment in the Russian economy. RDIF’s management company is based in Moscow. Currently, RDIF has experience of the successful joint implementation of more than 70 projects with foreign partners totaling more than RUB1.5 tn and covering 95% of the regions of the Russian Federation. RDIF portfolio companies employ more than 700,000 people and generate revenues which equate to more than 5% of Russia’s GDP. RDIF has established joint strategic partnerships with leading international co-investors from more than 15 countries that total more than $40 bn. Further information can be found at www.rdif.ru

Russia-Japan Investment Fund was established to pursue and implement attractive investment projects to promote economic, trade and investment cooperation between Japan and Russia. Priority sectors identified for cooperation include healthcare, the development of smart cities and sustainable technologies, energy, cutting-edge technologies, developing industries and exports in the Russian Far Eastern District, as well as other initiatives that will strengthen trade economic relations between the two countries. Further information can be found at www.rjif.org

AEON Infrastructure Corporationis a large private international investment and industrial group that implements long-term, integrated projects in the fields of industry, transport, construction and service. Further information can be found at www.aeoncorp.ru

For additional information contact:

Arseniy Palagin                                     Maria Shiryaevskaya / Andrew Leach
Russian partner              Hudson Sandler
Press Secretary                                        Tel: +44 (0) 20 7796 4133 
Tel: +7 495 644 34 14, ext. 2395
Mobile: +7 916 110 31 41
E-mail: arseniy.palagin@rdif.ru