Irkutsk Polymer Plant (IZP)

Irkutsk Polymer Plant is a plant for the production of polymers from ethane, which will be provided with its own raw materials. It is part of the gas chemical cluster, whose work is aimed at creating a system of enterprises for the production, preparation, transportation and processing of gas into a product with high added value.

History

2025: Plant Launch

In early May 2025, the Irkutsk Oil Company (INK) began launching the first polymer plant in Eastern Siberia, built in the Ust-Kut area. The design capacity of the new production complex will be 650 thousand tons of polymers per year. The volume of investments in the construction of this industrial facility is estimated at ₽250 billion.

According to Irkutsk Online, the company has moved to the stage of regime adjustment using its own hydrocarbon raw materials after supplying ethane to production lines. The next stages will be the start-up of the main process units, the production of commercial ethylene and its further supply to the gas phase polymerization unit for the production of commercial grades of polyethylene. The first batch of finished products is scheduled for the first half of 2025.

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Фото: irk.kp.ru

All key polyethylene production technology systems were tested back in late 2024. During the tests, the plant successfully produced the first polyethylene pellets from imported raw materials, which confirmed the operability of the process lines.

The Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev, commenting on the start of the launch of the enterprise, called this event a historical moment for the industry of the region.

Irkutsk Polymer Plant is part of a large-scale project implemented by INC since 2014. The founder and ultimate beneficiary of the company is one of the richest entrepreneurs in Russia, Nikolai Buinov, whose fortune, according to the Forbes rating of 2025, is estimated at $3.3 billion.

The new facility will produce polyethylene pellets applicable in various sectors of the economy: mechanical engineering, medicine, heavy and light industries. The raw material will be ethylene gas produced by INC in its own fields, which will ensure production independence and quality control at all stages.^[1]

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