[ferro-alloys.com]The Murmansk Region and Nornickel entered into a supplementary agreement to the special investment contract to upgrade Kola MMC.

The document was signed by Andrey Chibis, Governor of the Murmansk Region, and Dmitry Pristanskov, Nornickel’s State Secretary — Vice President, at the International Forum “The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue” in St Petersburg.

The upgrade and reconfiguration at Kola MMC covers all of the Company’s production sites in the Murmansk Region: Zapolyarny, Nickel, and Monchegorsk.

“Promoting economic growth and creating new jobs in the region are among our key priorities. However, it is important to make sure that industrial development puts no additional strain on the environment. To do that, we have been focusing on initiatives to reduce pollutant emissions. I am happy to see Nornickel’s willingness to implement socially responsible projects in our region, and we as the local government are here to provide comprehensive support,” said Andrey Chibis.

According to Dmitry Pristanskov, the upgrade will help to almost double Kola MMC’s capacities while also securing significant cuts in emissions of harmful pollutants (primarily at the Nickel site) and delivering greater economic efficiency due to a decrease in operating costs and a reduction in metal losses.

Under the special investment contract, the region has undertaken to support the project by taxing property and income at reduced rates until the contract expires.

“The Company is planning to spend more on the reconfiguration, ramping up its CAPEX by 32% from RUB 25.7 bn to RUB 34 bn. Additionally, it is our commitment to maintain average wages for our employees above the monthly average for the metals and mining industry in the region. The project is scheduled to run until 2023, with local government revenues potentially growing by RUB 5.4 bn over the five years. I firmly believe that our strategic partnership with the Murmansk Region will be yet another case of a strong public-private partnership to benefit both the Kola Peninsula and Russia at large,” commented Dmitry Pristanskov.

The investment project’s key milestones are the construction of a copper-nickel ore concentrate shipment facility in Zapolyarny and the upgrade of nickel refining operations (tank-house 2 to be advanced by introducing the technology of nickel electrowinning from chlorine dissolved tube furnace nickel powder).

(Nornickel Official)

• [Editor:王可]