(Shanghai, 20 May 2014) During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to China today, SIBUR, a leading Russian gas processing and petrochemicals company, signed a contract with China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (or “Sinopec”) to establish a joint venture for the construction of a 50 ktpa butadiene nitrile rubber (or “NBR”) plant at the Shanghai Chemical Industry Park, 50km south of Shanghai. Sinopec’s share in the joint venture will be 74.9% and SIBUR’s will be 25.1%. Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin  were both present at the signing ceremony.

The parties also signed a technology license agreement for the use of SIBUR's NBR production technology at the new facility. SIBUR’s specialists will take part in establishing the new facility’s production and commercial operations.

Sinopec expressed, “Last year the two parties developed a joint venture on the site of the Krasnoyarsk Synthetic Rubber Plant (or KZSK) in Russia. Sinopec purchased 25% + 1 share of KZSK. Today, a significant proportion of KZSK products are delivered to the Chinese market through their partnership with Sinopec. Sinopec believes that with the establishment of this new joint venture in Shanghai, Sinopec will be better equipped to fulfil market demand and contribute to China’s economic development.”

SIBUR expressed, “China remains a fast developing market, committed to replacing imports with domestic production. Sinopec is a leader in this market with significant resource capabilities, and this, combined with SIBUR’s advanced technologies for producing butadiene nitrile rubbers, will enable a successful long-term partnership between the two companies. It will also enable us to develop a highly competitive production facility in China and expand SIBUR’s footprint in the Asia market.”

For editors:

Butadiene nitrile rubber (NBR) is essentially an acrylonitrile and butadiene copolymer obtained by the emulsion polymerization method. Due to high resistance to aggressive agents NBR is widely used for the manufacture of various oil-and-petrol resistant industrial rubber products. NBR is essential to manufacture aircraft fuel tank seals, fuelling hoses, bag fuel tanks, and aircraft window seals. The material is used in conveyor belts for the food industry and in rubberised textile fabrics for aggressive environments.

About Sinopec

Sinopec is one of the largest integrated energy and chemical companies with upstream, midstream and downstream operations in China. Its principal operations include: the exploration and production, pipeline transportation and sales of petroleum and natural gas; the sales, storage and transportation of petroleum products, petrochemical products, synthetic fiber, fertilizer and other chemical products; import & export, as well as import and export agency business of oil, natural gas, petroleum products, petrochemical and chemical products, and other commodities and technologies; and research, development and application of technologies and information.

Adhering to its corporate mission of “Enterprise development, Contribution to the Country, Shareholder value creation, Social responsibility and Employee wellbeing”, Sinopec implements strategies of resources, markets, integration, internationalization, differentiation and green low-carbon development with a view to realize its vision of building a world first class energy and chemical company.

About SIBUR

SIBUR is a uniquely positioned, vertically integrated gas processing and petrochemicals company. SIBUR owns and operates Russia’s largest gas processing business in terms of associated petroleum gas processing volumes, and is a leader in the Russian petrochemicals industry. As of 31 March 2014, SIBUR operates 27 production sites located all over Russia, has over 1,400 large customers engaged in the energy, chemical, fast moving consumer goods (FMCG), automotive, construction and other industries in approximately 70 countries worldwide, and employs over 27,000 personnel.

Information source:Sinopec/Literature cited from www.sinopecgroup.com