Rustam Minnikhanov holds a regular meeting of the Tatneftekhiminvest-holding Board of Directors

On 19 December a regular meeting of the Tatneftekhiminvest-holding Board of Directors held by the Rais (Head) of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov at the Government House of the republic, with some participants taking part in in via video conference, considered a number of innovative projects including import replacement of low-tonnage chemistry, improvement of asphalt quality, secure cloud systems and drone ports.

Speaking at the meeting, the Director General of the Mendeleev Engineering Center from Moscow Ratmir Dashkin proposed scientific opportunities in low and medium-tonnage chemistry. “We propose to establish the Center for Technologies Pilot Projects in Tatarstan which will make it possible to test the existing technologies and to develop new products. Earlier we focused on technologies from Europe and now - on suppliers from China and India. If we take a classic way of development of equipment it will take 2-3 years. The modular approach makes it possible to decrease time,” he said

“It is necessary to establish such center,” the Director General of the holding Rafinat Yarullin said and Rustam Minnikhanov proposed to organize a working group and gave an errand to regional Ministry of Industry and Trade to join the work.

The head of the chair from the Institute of Geology and Oil and Gas Technologies from Kazan Federal University (KFU) Mikhail Varfolomeyev informed that the university is developing disruptive technologies and launching pilot production of low-tonnage chemistry for oil workers, such as surfactants, sown gel particles for fracking, hydrating inhibitors and others which increase reservoirs recovery rate.

“We are ready to launch a programme involving scientific and industrial partners from Tatarstan and other regions of Russia,” he concluded.

The Head of the Petrochemical and Carbon materials department from KFU Alima Kemalova told about ways to improve the asphalt covering by using adhesive additives for modern brands of bitumen, and, giving his comments, Rustam Minnikhanov said: “It is a much needed topic as we replace the upper coat every 2-3 years and the intensity of traffic will only grow.”

In his presentation, the Head of the department of Introduction of Digital Solutions of the  MegaFon Company Mikhail Isaev proposed domestic IT solutions for raising the security and fail-operational capability and for protection from DDOS attacks, while the Director General of the RusDronoPort Nikolay Ryashin presented drone ports and charging stations, which make it possible to quickly charge industrial quadcopters, and told about software developed for controlling drone ports and unmanned aircraft.

The Board also considered the issues of deliveries of hydrocarbon raw materials and petrochemical produce inside Tatarstan, including sales to SME,s and Rafinat Yarullin stated that the deliveries programme has been completed successfully, “with SIBUR and Tatneft having played a special role in this process.”