Gazpromneft – Lubricants to shift production of premium lubes to Omsk

Russia’s Gazpromneft – Lubricants is shifting production of its premium lubricants from its lube blending plant in Bari, Italy to Omsk in southwestern Siberia.

The move is in response to Russia’s current economic crisis arising from Western sanctions and low crude oil prices, which has resulted in double-digit inflation rates since December 2014. The Russian currency has also weakened by more than 40% against the US dollar over a 12-month period.

“2015 began with growth of sales volumes, but in the new economic realities the advisability of protecting our market share in Russia with shipments from Italy became increasingly less clear. Therefore, Gazpromneft -Lubricants made the strategic decision to set up high tech production of premium product at the Omsk Lubricants Plant,” the company said.

The company expects Gazpromneft – Lubricants to produce 10,300 tonnes of lubricants by 2017, with premium products at the Omsk and Italian plants accounting for 25%.

Gazpromneft – Lubricants, which was founded in 2007, also has a lube blending plant in Yaroslavl, 250 kilometres northeast of Moscow.

The company produces more than 200 types of lubricants under the Gazpromneft, SibiMotor and G-Energy brands.