History

The foundation of SIBUR in 1995 was the first step towards re-establishing broken relations in the petrochemical industry after the Soviet Union’s collapse. Managed by Gazprom, the Company started to evolve into a powerful national player in the deep hydrocarbon conversion market.

The financial muscle of Gazprom and availability of basic petrochemical feedstock paved the way for industry consolidation around SIBUR. In 1998–1999, the Company acquired over 60 assets in the petrochemical and related industries, many of which required financial rehabilitation. Coupled with the decline in the global petrochemical industry, this resulted in a higher debt burden, with margins falling into negative territory. SIBUR found itself facing a management and financial crisis in the early 2000s. In 2002, as part of an anti-crisis programme, Gazprom initiated changes to the Company’s structure.

In 2003, Alexander Dyukov was appointed CEO of SIBUR. He formed the core of the management team by uniting highly experienced production professionals with younger generation managers. The new management team helped stabilise SIBUR’s position and articulated strategic principles for its further development, such as:

– cementing long-term access to feedstock, and offering effective solutions for handling oil and gas by-products, which required significant investments in gas processing capacities;

– monetising feedstock access by building new capacities for feedstock transportation and advanced processing, which required new transportation infrastructure and large state-of-the-art facilities to produce polymers for a wide range of industries from construction to medicine;.

– pursuing operational excellence, reducing risks and creating a more powerful and sustainable business.

After Alexander Dyukov moved on to Gazprom Neft, Dmitry Konov took over as head of the management team.

SIBUR launched a large-scale investment programme, focusing on ramping up gas processing to strengthen the Company’s feedstock base. The construction and expansion of gas processing plants, compressor stations, the pipeline network, and gas fractionation facilities contributed to a 3x growth of SIBUR’s associated petroleum gas processing capacities.

The experience gained from creating new facilities and additional revenues from the sale of hydrocarbon feedstock enabled the Company to start building polymer production plants as part of import substitution and export development initiatives.

In 2010–2011, Leonid Mikhelson, a Russian entrepreneur, acquired a controlling stake in the Company. This helped unlock additional opportunities to implement unprecedentedly large-scale investment projects and transform SIBUR into emerging markets’ fastest-growing petrochemical player. In 2013, we completed the construction of a flagship polypropylene production facility in Tobolsk, with its margins significantly exceeding the industry average due to its strategic location. The successful project to build and launch a modern global-scale petrochemical plant laid a solid foundation for further work of scaling up high-margin production operations.

The launch of Russia’s largest industrial facilities, upgrade of the existing plants and organisational optimisation have elevated the Company to new competitive heights.

SIBUR’s strategic priority is to expand its main production base by means of efficient use of modern synthetic materials both in manufacturing existing products, and designing novel solutions to drive technological advancement in healthcare, consumer goods, automotive, and construction industries.

With the new competencies, SIBUR was able to launch ZapSibNeftekhim, the biggest ever polymer project in Russia, and one of the largest in the world. Commissioned in 2019, the facility tripled SIBUR’s polymer capacity, giving access to the widest range of opportunities offered by the monetisation of hydrocarbon feedstock and improving margins. ZapSibNeftekhim also helped expand the Company’s portfolio with new products enjoying both domestic and global demand. Having successfully accomplished the import substitution mission in Russia’s key petrochemical markets, SIBUR started gradually shifting focus towards export-driven localisation. As with many of the Company’s investment projects, the huge ZapSibNeftekhim plant was completed ahead of schedule and budget.

The key principles driving the Company’s transformation agenda were digitalisation, sustainable development, client focus and continuous improvement of operations. Changes in the Company’s shareholding structure reflect the globalisation trend: it now includes China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group) and the Silk Road Fund.

In 2020, SIBUR launched the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (GCC) project as part of its long-term strategy designed to expand the Company’s presence in the high value-added petrochemical segment. Scheduled for completion in mid-2024, the facility will focus on Asian markets thanks to its convenient location.

On 4 October 2021, SIBUR and TAIF Group completed the combination of their assets to create Russia’s largest petrochemical company and one of the leading players globally.

This move made the new company’s petrochemical operations more resilient and more competitive in the global market, unlocked growth potential of the Russian petrochemical industry given its high capital intensity and boosted chemical non-commodity exports. The deal also brought new jobs and opportunities for sustainable development and environmental management. The new company will benefit from strong synergies through resource base diversification, distribution and logistics optimisation, R&D development, and operational excellence of its assets. Following the completion of all ongoing investment projects, the new combined company will be among the top 5 global leaders in polyolefin and rubber production.