Russia’s Tatneft and Kazakh company KazMunayGas have signed an agreement for a new production site in the Atyrau region of Kazakhstan. The new facility will produce butadiene rubbers for use in tire manufacturing.
The joint venture was signed by Nail Maganov, general director of Tatneft, and Alik Aidarbayev, management board chairman of KazMunayGas. Production will commence in 2026 at the SEZ National Industrial Petrochemical Technopark (Free Economic Zone). Approximately 2,000 jobs will be created at the site during the construction period, and more than 700 job positions at the point the facility goes into operation.
The planned capacity of the facility will be up to 180,000 tons of butadiene and butadiene rubbers per year. The share divide between KazMunayGas and Tatneft will be 25% and 75% respectively. The preliminary cost of the project is estimated at around US$1bn, and the parties are considering options for financing, including through borrowing.
It is assumed that raw materials will be supplied from the Tengiz and Korolev fields in Kazakhstan. The plans provide for finished products to be sent to a tire manufacturing factory in the Karaganda region, as well as for export to European countries, Russia, China, Turkey and other destinations.
“Tatneft has big plans in petrochemistry, and we are happy to develop this area together with our Kazakh partners,” said Maganov. “Kazakhstan is a strategic partner for us. We already have the collaborative experience, as we now also apply joint efforts in the construction of the tire manufacturing factory in the Karaganda region, and this is the practical implementation of the strategy for the economic integration of the countries.
“Kazakhstan has created the most comfortable conditions for the implementation of large-scale investment projects,” he continued. “I am confident that a new joint venture for the production of butadiene rubbers will contribute to strengthening the economies of our countries and the well-being of our people.”
“In accordance with the development strategy, our company seeks to expand the value chain of the company’s products and is actively developing the petrochemical industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan,” added Aidarbayev. “Establishment of a joint venture between KazMunayGaz and Tatneft is the evidence of this. I am sure that the project will contribute to the establishment of partnership relations between Kazakhstan and Tatarstan, and will also diversify the economy of our country.”
