Western sanctions have worked to revive the “Crimean Titan”
JSC Bashkir Soda Company (BSK) took custody of the Crimean Titan plant.
Today it resumed work after a 4-month shutdown, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The plant changed its owner at the end of last year. Ukrainian Chemical Products, owned by Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash, sold its assets in Crimea. The new owner of the Armenian branch of Titanium Investments LLC is the Russian Titan company, registered in Barnaul. Then the plant management assured that the deal did not promise any changes in the work of the enterprise. But it turned out that the plant was idle.
“The operation of the enterprise continues thanks to the decision of the federal government, according to which JSC Bashkir Soda Company (BSC) assumed technical, technological and financial support for the plant,” the company’s press service reported. The cooperation of JSC BSK and Crimean Titan made it possible to resolve all production and technological issues and launch the equipment in the shortest possible time. This is a great contribution to import substitution and the development of high-value chemistry.”
BSK has developed a five-year development plan for the enterprise with an increase in production to 120 thousand tons per year. The demand in domestic industry for titanium dioxide is growing: it is used in the paint and varnish industry, in the production of paper, synthetic fibers, plastics, etc. At the end of 2021, more than 70% of titanium dioxide was imported to Russia from the EU and the USA, and with the introduction of sanctions Many Russian enterprises have already experienced a shortage of this component. The restart of production at Crimean Titan in the next 3-5 years should saturate the domestic market.
The titanium plant in Armyansk has been operating since the late 70s. The flagship of the Crimean chemical industry was tied to the Ukrainian raw material base, and in order to maintain connections with suppliers, after the annexation of Crimea to Russia, PJSC “Crimean Titan” was re-registered in Kyiv under the name Ukrainian Chemical Products. At the same time, Titanium Investments LLC was registered in Moscow, which included a branch in Armyansk.
However, the plan was unsuccessful - the railway tracks to the plant were dismantled on the Ukrainian side. However, it continued to operate, with the exception of the fertilizer production workshop.
In August 2018, the Crimean Titan caused an environmental disaster. Due to the water blockade, the acid reservoir of the enterprise became shallow, and toxic dust from the bottom rose into the air, covering metal products with rust, causing a sore throat and a burning sensation in the eyes. Then a state of emergency was introduced in Armyansk and children were evacuated.
Later it turned out that Titan had huge debts for gas and electricity - almost 2 billion rubles. And because the fertilizer production plant is closed, there is no alkali to neutralize acidic waste. To reduce environmental risks, you need to dilute the wastewater with water from underground wells and purchase an installation for neutralizing acidic wastewater using natural limestone in order to reduce harmful emissions and neutralize existing ones.
With the opening of the North Crimean Canal, the problem should gradually be resolved.
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