HeidelbergCement invests in Russia

HeidelbergCement has signed an investment agreement for the Russian Saratov region. It includes the acquisition of a majority stake in the Russian cement company Volsk (formerly known as Kommunar). The plant has a cement capacity of 210,000 tonnes and is located in Volsk in the Volga region, 150 km from the city of Saratov and around 1,000 km from Moscow. Together with a local partner, the Wolga-Deutsche Business Group NCP, HeidelbergCement will modernize the production facilities. In addition, a modern and ecologically sound cement plant with a cement capacity of 2 million tonnes will be newly built in Volsk by the end of 2008.

„The Saratov region on the lower Volga is strategically very well located“, explains Dr. Bernd Scheifele, Chairman of the Managing Board of HeidelbergCement. „There are large deposits of raw materials, and cement demand of the around 2.7 million inhabitants living in an area of more than 100,000 sp km is rising. The market entry into the Volga region is part of our growth strategy of further expanding in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia and of building up a strong market position there.“ In this context, the latest investment took place in Georgia in May 2006. At the end of 2005, HeidelbergCement had already acquired the cement companies Buchtarma Cement in Kazakhstan and Doncement in the Ukraine.