The German chemical company BASF SE, one of the largest in the world, intends to curtail all activities in Russia and Belarus by July, except for the production of additives for the food industry.
“The Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE has also decided by early July 2022 to curtail the remaining business activities of the company in Russia and Belarus. Businesses that support food production are exempted from this decision, as the war risks provoking a global food crisis,” the company said in a statement.
In early March, against the backdrop of the war started by Russia in Ukraine, the company announced the abandonment of new projects in Russia and Belarus. The company is now developing detailed plans for an orderly winding down.
It is noted that in 2021, the revenue of the group’s companies in Russia and Belarus amounted to about 1% of the total sales of BASF Group (78.6 billion euros). Now 684 BASF employees work in these countries. The company intends to support them until the end of 2022.
BASF operates through six core business segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technology, Nutrition & Care, and Agricultural Solutions.
BASF Concern, a leading global chemical company, has started production of innovative fungicide Revysol. According to a press release of the company, first market introductions are expected for the 2019/2020 season, and it would enter the Ukrainian market in 2023-2025.
“BASF has started production of its latest fungicide innovation Revysol at its site in Hannibal. Pending regulatory approval, first market introductions are expected for the 2019/2020 season. With an investment in the double-digit million euro range, BASF has enhanced an existing manufacturing system to produce the new active ingredient,” BASF said in the report.
The company said that Revysol “has the potential of reaching peak sales above EUR 1 billion.” BASF has applied for registration of Revysol in 60 countries across Europe, Asia and the Americas for more than 40 crops.
“The proprietary compound was designed to meet the high level of regulatory standards while demonstrating an outstanding performance and selectivity in a broad range of row and specialty crops. Revysol will be available in customized formulations to farmers across the globe and enable them to better protect their crops under various growing conditions,” the company said.
BASF, an international chemical producer, is to invest EUR 2 million in a new plant that will produce concrete additives in the town of Obukhiv, Kyiv region, which is to open next spring, Managing Director (CEO) at BASF Ukraine Andreas Lier has said. “There will be about EUR 2 million in investment. This is our first investment in Ukraine. If it is successful, we will continue investing in this production. We have already been present in the Ukrainian market with these products for several years. We have been importing this product for a long time, but now we’ve decided we want to produce it here,” Lier told Interfax-Ukraine.
BASF’s National Development Manager Oleksandr Ruban says that the plant’s production capacity will be 10,000 tonnes of produce per year with the possibility of boosting the output in future. The plant is scheduled to be launched in March-April 2019.
Production in Ukraine will halve the price of concrete additives and will also allow the company to significantly increase its market share.
“Now we are bringing all the additives from abroad, and our share in the market is very small – less than 1%. We plan to grow up to 10% of the market in the first year,” Ruban said in a comment to the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
Governor of Kyiv region Oleksandr Horhan forecasts that the production of the additives at the plant in Obukhiv will speed up the pace of construction in Kyiv region.
“Kyiv region is the leader in construction. These additives will make frame-monolithic construction possible amid sub-zero temperatures, allowing construction all the year round. Now such additives are available on the market, but they are imported and expensive,” Horhan said.
BASF, the world’s leading producer of plant protection agents, plans to increase its share of the Ukrainian market of plant protection agents in 2018 by 1.5-2 percentage points with the acquisition of business shares and assets of the German chemical company Bayer, to 17-17.5%. “We are planning to increase the share of the Ukrainian market of plant protection products by 1.5-2%. At present the company has a 15.5% stake in Ukraine,” Head of the BASF Agribusiness Department in Ukraine, Moldova and the Caucasus Tiberiu Dima said.
He specified that BASF intends to keep the share of the Ukrainian seed market next year at the level of 8-9%. “We also intend in the first ten days of October to officially open a research seed center for working with grains in the village of Tsentralne in Kyiv region, which was purchased from Bayer,” the expert noted.
It is part of a global network of research centers. Already in the near future the center will close the full cycle of seed production: from the creation of new varieties of wheat to the presentation of developments in the demonstration center.
BASF is the world’s leading manufacturer of plant protection products. The product portfolio consists of five segments: chemicals, special products, functional materials and solutions, solutions for agriculture, as well as oil and gas.
Public joint-stock company Ukrgazvydobuvannia and Germany’s BASF chemical concern have signed a three-year contract for supply of fuel additives for Shebel fuel, the press service of Ukrgazvydobuvannia has reported. Under the contract, two specially designed packages will be supplied: Keropur 3802 Shebel and Keropur DP Shebel. Keropur 3802 Shebel package is required to receive fuel with best purification behavior, and Keropur DP Shebel also has good purification behavior, it reduces foaming behavior and increases cetane number.
“The fuel additive packages allow saving on fuel consumption, have good corrosion resistant behavior and reduce engine deterioration,” the press service of Ukrgazvydobuvannia said.
Ukrgazvydobuvannia, which is wholly owned by NSJC Naftogaz Ukrainy, is a large gas processing company, which accounts for about 75% of total gas output in the country.
It operates Shebelynka gas refinery, Yablunivske department to process gas, Bazylivschyna condensate stabilization unit, and 19 filling stations in Kharkiv region. The latter sells fuel and liquefied gas of its own production. Shebelynka gas refinery started production of petrol and diesel fuel of Euro 5 emission standard in 2018.
