Ilim Group Starts up World's Largest Fiberline in Russia

Ilim Group, St. Petersburg, Russia, has officially inaugurated its new pulp mill in Bratsk (Irkutsk Oblast), the largest investment project completed in the Russian pulp and paper industry over the past 30 years, and the world's largest fiberline. A symbolic "key turning" ceremony was attended by Dmitry Medvedev, Russian prime minister, Zakhar Smushkin, chairman of the board of directors of Ilim Group, John Faraci, chairman and CEO of International Paper, Memphis, Tenn., USA (co-owner of Ilim Group), and Sergey Eroschenko, governor of the Irkutsk Oblast.

Total investments in the Big Bratsk project exceeded $800 million. Annual capacity of the new fiberline after ramp-up will reach 720,000 metric tons of bleached softwood market pulp, with the total annual pulp and paper products output of the Bratsk Mill of OJSC Ilim Group exceeding 1 million metric tpy.

This successfully completed project will make the Bratsk Mill more efficient and more environmentally friendly, Ilim notes. In addition to the construction of a new fiberline, the project involved the upgrade of the infrastructure, including construction of a new recovery boiler, new woodyard, new chemicals preparation plant, etc.

In his speech, Medvedev congratulated participants of the inaugration ceremony with a startup of the new fiberline. "This is an important and long-awaited event. This industry has not seen such large investments over a long time, and this is a remarkable milestone for the entire industry," said the prime minister. "The Big Bratsk project is a good example of well-coordinated efforts of business community and regional and federal authorities."

Smushkin said that "we have completed an ambitious project. Rebuild of the Bratsk Mill will give a new impetus to the development of the mill, the city, and the region as a whole. New high-qualified jobs have been created together with new opportunities for implementation of social programs. In the immediate future, we will be learning to ramp up the new fiberline. I would like thank all those who have been involved in the implementation of the project—our mill employees, our contractors, and all vendors who have worked with us."

Faraci added that "we have planned large-scale investments and have completed our plans. I believe that Ilim Group is a spectacular and unique example of a joint venture in this industry. It sets an example of how two international companies may come together and collaborate. To bring this project into life, we needed a joint venture and a true partnership."

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