In the Nizhny Novgorod Region, two industrial and two technology parks have been launched and already have a total of 164 residents and 4,047 jobs (according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade).
While Ankudinovka tech park is IT-oriented, Sarov Technopark is more versatile focusing on information, space, nuclear and medical technology.
ZMZ Industrial Park – with around 2,000 employees across 14 residents – boasts the largest workforce among its local peers. With a primary focus on machine engineering, it is also home to residents representing other fields.
One of a kind
Oka-Polymer is the only chemicals park in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Founded in 2012, the park is a transformed Caprolactam factory, which had been a part of SIBUR until 2013, sitting on its Dzerzhinsk site (SIBUR Neftekhim).
Having become obsolete, most of Caprolactam’s capacities required a permanent shutdown. At the same time, the convenient layout, proper transport infrastructure and easy access to energy sources paved the way for its conversion into a site for new production facilities. .
The local government supported the transformation. In autumn 2011, SIBUR Neftekhim representatives and the Region’s Governor Valery Shantsev signed an agreement to establish Oka-Polymer.
In summer 2012, the cluster’s management company was launched and SIBUR announced the chlorine production closure, commencing the shutdown and putting Caprolactam facilities on sale to attract residents.
Oka-Polymer sits on 300 ha in Dzerzhinsk’s Eastern Industrial Zone.
In January 2014, having completed the shutdown and attracted the first residents, SIBUR sold its 100% stake in the Oka-Polymer Industrial Park to Tosol-Sintez, which as a resident carried on implementing the park’s existing development strategy. Last year, a total of RUB 150 m was invested in Oka-Polymer.
Land, shopfloors, warehouses
Oka-Polymer sits on 300 ha in Dzerzhinsk’s Eastern Industrial Zone, with 45 ha already occupied by manufacturers and 350,000 m2 of buildings and facilities available to residents, which now employ over 1,300 people.
The park’s land, as well as manufacturing and warehousing facilities, can be either acquired or leased. Setting up for work at leased properties will take as few as 11 business days. The park has a design and engineering centre, while its management company secures residents’ access to utility services.
Its strong resource base and infrastructure provide residents with electric and thermal power, gas, water and water disposal facilities. One of the park’s important advantages is its proximity to transportation infrastructure, as it is located only 500 m away from the Gorky Railway and 12 km away from Federal Highway M7 (Moscow – Ufa).
Photo: Oka-Polymer Industrial Park.
Production, comfortable space, benefits
Oka-Polymer is a chemicals cluster for polymer processing and fine chemical products. It is home to a number of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) manufacturers such as CLARITY, Chemkor and Partner-Elektro NN with strong support from the largest PVC producer in Russia – RusVynil, a SIBUR and SolVin joint venture in Kstovo, which is only 40 km away. With a 300 ktpa suspension and 30 ktpa emulsion PVC design capacity, RusVynil delivered a 312.7 kt output in 2017.
CLARITY, an Oka-Polymer resident, uses Kstovo-sourced PVC to manufacture food stretch films for manual and automated packaging operations. Launched in September 2013, the company's production site has a design capacity of 10 ktpa and serves customers such as Myasnov and SPAR retail networks.
Dmitry Skatov,
Chief Engineer at Clarity LLC
“CLARITY was founded in 2013. We manufacture PVC stretch films for retail and food industries, which use them in food packaging. Today, CLARITY is the only Russian company with a full production cycle for full-colour PVC films (from creating a composition to printing).
For nearly two years, RusVynil has been supplying us with polyvinyl chloride – our primary raw material.
The Oka-Polymer Industrial Park is a perfectly arranged site offering great logistics opportunities. It provides access to all utilities and infrastructure required for manufacturing. Our company occupies a building previously used by the factory, so we did not have to build everything from scratch. Oka-Polymer team provides general business support to us and other residents and gets involved in joint organisational and technical initiatives”.
Another resident of the park is Chemkor. In April 2014, Chemkor bought a 68.7 ktpa cable compounds production facility from SIBUR. Parnter Eleсtro NN, part of the Electro Cable Trading House, uses Chemkor’s cable compounds to make сabling and wiring products.
Oka-Polymer also hosts a unique production facility of R’AIN Optics, a leading Russian manufacturer of infrared optical materials. All production stages, from growing crystals to producing precision optical elements, take place within the same production site, which considerably reduces the delivery time and drives the cost of the final product down.
Danil Safonov,
Commercial Director at R’AIN Optics
“Our company is a leading Russian manufacturer of zinc selenide, a much sought-after optical material which is used in high-tech laser and thermal imaging equipment.
We have started our cooperation with Oka-Polymer Industrial Park primarily because they have comfortable ready-to-use shopfloors supplied with water, electricity and natural gas. The only thing we actually had to do was to adjust the shopfloors for our production needs. I believe that from all the options on the table starting it with Oka-Polymer was the best choice. The park has provided us with plenty of space for production and growth”.
Boryszew Plastic Rus and Tosol-Sintez, manufacturers of auto parts, are yet another couple of Oka-Polymer residents. The companies produce cooling and brake fluids, auto chemicals and lubricants, to name just a few.
Within as little as five and a half years since its inception, Oka-Polymer Industrial Park has managed to attract 39 residents. The park’s plan is to attract another four companies this year. In November 2017, Oka-Polymer, as part of the Nizhny Novgorod industrial cluster, was included in the official list of Russia’s industrial clusters.
As a result, the park residents are now eligible for federal subsidies in line with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 41 dated 28 January 2016. These funds can be used for R&D, pilot runs, repayment of payables related to purchase of equipment, etc.
In addition, the park is subject to preferential tax treatment: the profit tax for its residents is 13.5%. The residents’ investment projects are exempt from the tax on property created or purchased within the project. The residents engaged in investment activities are also eligible for public support.
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Technology park census
In the previous issue, SIBUR for Clients launched a review of Russian technology parks, including those focused on chemicals. Anticipating significant business opportunities, the Company has been closely involved in setting up technology and industrial parks in Russia. For more information on the Togliattisintez Industrial Park, please visit.