SILAN CHEMICAL PLANT CEASE OPERATIONS

According to a message, posted on Instagram by the vice-governor of the Lipetsk region Dmitry Averov, the oldest chemical enterprise in the region, located in the city of Dankov, will be closed down. The activities of the Silan plant will be suspended by the decision of the parent company, which is part of the Rostech Corporation.

According to Averov, the decision to terminate the work of the enterprise was made by the State Research Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Organoelement Compounds (GNIIKHTEOS) after an audit, which was a part of a project for the financial recovery of the holding. Part of the company's assets, according to a representative of the regional authorities, will be frozen until the future of the enterprise is decided.

Whether the plant will resume operations and how long the downtime will be remains to be seen.

Currently, the company plans to lay off 282 employees. The authorities note that there will be enough vacancies in the labor market in Dankov and neighboring regions to provide professional employment for the plant's employees. In particular, a significant part of employees can be employed at the Lipetsk Agro greenhouse complex, Rusagroalliance or Dankov-Agroinvest.

The chemical plant of Dankov, which became a subsidiary of Silan GNIICHTEOS, is one of the oldest enterprises in the Lipetsk region. The plant, founded in 1953, was privatized in 1992 and was made a joint stock company.

In 2013, the plant adopted an equipment modernization program, which cost about 3 billion rubles.

The plan envisioned an 80% increase in capacity until 2030, but in 2014 the economic situation in the company changed dramatically. After the refusal of the Perm gunpowder plant, which was one of the main partners of the company, to purchase the company's products, Silan lost 80% to 90% of its revenue. Production at the plant was discontinued.

In 2015, the plant went bankrupt. By 2017, the Dankov enterprise, which at that time was a subsidiary of RT-Chemcomposite, launched the production of silicones (organosilicon compounds) used in various industries. The company purchased equipment and real estate from Silankhimprodukt, spending a little over 100 million rubles.

The structure of the enterprise included the Solar Energy Company, which cost37.8 million rubles.

Experts note that back in December 2019, the parent company received approval from the Industrial Development Fund for a loan in the amount of 238.6 million rubles, necessary to upgrade Silan's production facilities.