PskovTag: German Petrushko regarding construction of Titan Polymer plant in the corona virus situation period, the benefits of plastic and social responsibility

Please find hereby the text version of Guide-park program from the life stream of Echo of Moscow radio in Pskov (102.6 FM) with the participation of the General Director of “Pskovsky Zavod  “Titan-Polymer” LLC German Petrushko. The guest of the studio told about the project realization in pandemic situation period and measures to prevent the corona virus spread, he also commented the project significance for the domestic economy.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Good day dear listeners. You are tuned in the Echo of Moscow radio in Pskov and Guide-park is area where we openly talk about the relevant topics. Our guest for today is German Petrushko, who is General Director of Pskovsky Zavod “Titan-Polymer” LLC. Good afternoon, dear German Lvovich.

German Petrushko: Good afternoon, dear listeners.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: In the next 30 minutes we are going to talk about the project realization process under pandemic situation and the measures aimed to prevent the corona virus spread, and also the project significance for the domestic economy. The first question is a traditional one and everybody asks it now.

How are you German Lvovich? How do you feel?

German Petrushko: Thank you, everything is alright. And I wish you all enjoy good health.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Oh well, we live in difficult times and it is still not clear, why does everything happen this way, how to react to this and aren’t the restrictive measures too stringent. Are the works continuing at the plant today? How greatly did the restrictive measures influenced on the overall project process?

German Petrushko: The construction works continue. The building contractors can carry out their activities as follows from the executive order of April 3rd issued by Pskov Region Governor. The Titan-Polymer plant works in accordance with the order of April 15th made by Pskov Region Governor and it added the list of companies allowed to carry out their activities. Of course, under these circumstances we observe all the sanitary regulations of epidemic prevention in compliance with the recommendations of Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights. Our employees working at the construction site and in the office are provided with personal protective equipment. Special countermeasures against the prevention of the corona virus spread are carried out and indoor disinfect facility cleaning service is organized on a regular basis. The employee’s temperature is measured on a daily basis. The majority of the office staff is switched to distance working. The works go on via conference call as scheduled.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: So basically you don't send extra people to work.

German Petrushko: No we don’t. It is only as necessary. Mostly we do our best to organize distance working for our office staff. The situation allows it for now.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: I hope that there are no registered disease cases among your employees?

German Petrushko: Let’s knock the wood, as we did not register any disease cases yet, thanks God for that. In particular, this is because we apply to restrictive measures as much as possible.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: German Lvovich, we can see that different inspections are carried out, Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights visits the construction projects with inspections. Did any controlling agencies visit you or until now this good luck has passed you? Don’t they nightmarize you?

German Petrushko: Of course, somebody visits us as a part of internal checks. But disinfection procedures are also performed at the construction site. Because of the hard times AO Group of Companies “Titan” began antiseptics and isopropyl alcohol production in three cities and it supplies Russian cities with the product. We do whatever we can to fight the corona virus and we try to comply with all the compliance orders.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: We will come back to it later today, because somehow or other “Titan-Polymer” LLC is an enterprise which operates in the chemistry area and the disinfection issues are directly related to the chemical industry. German Lvovich, at present the first stage of the project is under implementation and the main question that we have on mind is whether the schedule is being broken because of countermeasures against corona virus keeping in mind that production units were not allowed to work for some time? How the first stage of the project is being implemented as a whole?

 German Petrushko: Certainly, there are some issues, but overall the first construction stage is still on schedule. We lagged behind a little bit due to some reasons. There are external supplies of cement and bricks which are partially delivered from Smolensk and Novgorod regions. There were failures, but in general we are on schedule. We understand that there are specified terms and I think we can cope with the situation and construct the plant on time.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: A lot of business representatives sound the alarm because of the existing situation. Is it possible that “Titan-Polymer” LLC is going to scrap the construction project and say: “We apologize, but it is such a difficult time.  In other situation we could have built it, we are sorry but now no”?  

German Petrushko: We know that certain investment projects are scrapped because their business was mainly related to the import deliveries of equipment. We understand how much the ratio of ruble to dollar has changed now. The situation is serious, but “Titan-Polymer” LLC does not plan to stop the project. We work and do not have such sentiments.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: And you can say to the opposition of plant construction: “Don't count on it!”

German Petrushko: Yes, this is out of the question. We will build it on time and no force majeure will affect it. Moreover, the equipment is being supplied now. We received 32 cargo units this April and about 70 trucks will be shipped monthly. Therefore, the work is going on at full speed.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: German Lvovich, let’s get back to corona virus pandemia talk. As soon as it will finish, an economic crisis will begin. Currently there is some kind of crisis and weaknesses are detected in the economy. It has been found out that there is a deficit for a range of goods in the country. What role can “Titan-Polymer” perform in resolving the deficit problem? You produce the PET pellets. How can you help in this direction?

German Petrushko: Sure enough, we will definitely do our bit. Moreover we consider a possibility to produce nonwovens. All nonwovens are used to produce the individual protection equipment like masks, suits, robes, shoe protectors, gloves, hospital sheets and others are made of the polymers. There are two types of polymers here – polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene. Of course, their actions are slightly different, because we need to understand that the end product is designed for some kind of application.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Many people willing to sew masks but they regret that the feedstock is not enough.

German Petrushko: Trust me, there is no feedstock. At present it is exactly the lack of nonwovens. It is unavailable nor in Europe neither in America. It is a global problem. The mask is effective for 2 hours provided that it is sewed in accordance with sanitary regulations. If it is made without observing these regulations, it is useless. Currently this is the world problem and Russia faces it too. That’s why we consider the possibility and moreover we take the initial steps towards the nonwovens production. These nonwovens could be used not only as one-time element but in multiple occasions.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: This is probably the case of costumes. The mask is just used, well then it’s thrown away and after put a new one.

German Petrushko: Of course, it applies to suits, and serious protection is required here.

This suit is a subject to heat treatment and after that medical personnel can use it again. The polyethylene terephthalate itself can withstand the multiple heat treatments. The virus dies at a temperature of 92 degrees. When the next wave comes the virus can mutate and it may be necessary to use a higher temperature in order to destroy it. That is why the urgency of setting of polyethylene terephthalate production is very high.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: I’d like just to make it clear that polyethylene terephthalate is the least toxic polymer which can be used to produce water bottles so we can drink directly from it.

German Petrushko: That is absolutely right. The water bottle is made from the polyethylene terephthalate. As well as medical droppers, pill blister packs, surgical sutures are made of polyethylene terephthalate too. This material is not toxic and harmless for humans and that’s the great advantage of it.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: By the way, Herman Lvovich, what is the nonwoven and where can we see it?

German Petrushko: Baby diapers, protective masks, clothing, medical sheets, wet wipes are all nonwovens. Their application range is huge. A lot of bandage manufactures switch to nonwovens production too, because it is possible to add antiseptic properties on the stage of fiber forming, and when in use the bandage will have disinfecting properties. The consumption of nonwovens is on the rise; therefore we plan to increase the annual production by 26%. They are used not only in cosmetics and medicine but also in the industrial sector, for example in road paving construction and railroad construction.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: All too often when people speak of plastics they think that any polymer plant produces just plastic forks, cups and bags but they do not realize that plastic application is much wider.

German Petrushko: Unfortunately yes, there is such a stereotype, but after all, plastic is also distributed by the purpose. For example, plastic is widely used in the engineering industry. If we look at a regular motorcar, it consists of 30% plastic.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: And we understand that in order for the car to become lighter the percent will increase. Especially that some plastic types have higher strength characteristics.

German Petrushko: This present time the airplane wings are made of polymers which are tarred with special resins. For example the long-expected C-21 plane is made of 30% plastic.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: We will observe the development of these projects too, especially since our country is aimed to stand on a par with leading high-tech countries.

German Petrushko: Russia is still very far behind in this area and per capita consumption is catastrophically low in our country. For example, this rate is 21 kg per a human in USA and it’s only 5 or 6 in Russia.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Is it per polyethylene terephthalate rate or polymers in total?

German Petrushko: It is in total. But polyethylene terephthalate will occupy 50 percent of this range because of clothing, threads and etc.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Let’s get back to our topic about Pskovsky Zavod ‘’Titan-Polymer’’ LLC. Russian ruble dropped crucially against dollar and euro. “Titan-Polymer” LLC equipment is high-tech, imported and in my understanding it is mostly made in Europe.

German Petrushko: Yes. The equipment is made in such countries like Germany, Italy, United States and United Kingdom.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: All these are countries with stable currencies, and all of their currencies are stronger than ruble. To what extent is the ruble weakening makes the project more expensive for you? Is not it a problem for “Titan-Polymer” LLC?

German Petrushko: The final project cost of course has increased. As I have already said the situation will not affect the implementation of the investment project and it will not have the influence on the completion of AO GC Titan obligations. We will launch this project and accomplish it. The deliveries of the imported equipment are on schedule; moreover we consider our contractors requests for the possibility to obtain some equipment parts ahead of a schedule. Project’s progress goes on its own time; we work with our contractors according to schedule. AO GC “Titan” is famous for completion everything that it undertakes. We never defeat plans.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Today the borders of many countries are closed.

Do not you have problems with customs and logistics because of that?

German Petrushko: Even if the problems arise they are sort of prescheduled. Of course we realize that delivery time of the single cargo unit can increase and we schedule it.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Futurologists make forecasts that the world economy will change after the pandemic and the things that were important will not have any meaning. Are not you afraid of the situation that when the world will be through with that corona virus case it turns out that the polyethylene terephthalate is no longer required at all?

German Petrushko: No, it is just out of the question because no matter how hard it is for the world to emerge from the crisis people will still consume food and clothes. Water needs to be filtered, so filters are necessary. I think that on the contrary the current world situation detects all the economic weaknesses of one or another country and it recognizes problem areas and thus protects from different situations. Today it is the corona virus problem but tomorrow it will be other infection. The world can't stop and live in the past, it has to evolve.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Ok, so anyway we won't be able to live without you.

German Petrushko: And we won’t without you.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: German Lvovich, you headed into quite successful level of cooperation with local business in March. Are there any agreements to this day? And again, does the corona virus story bothers your cooperation?

German Petrushko: No it doesn’t at all. On top of that, as you know, we previously held a meeting at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Pskov Region and introduced local businesses to our needs, which are also related to construction. Some companies had responded. Obviously, that all of them have different levels. Someone can comply with these work levels and pace and somebody is just not ready to. That is why currently we consider two Pskov companies for the site works. There is a concept of “Pskov Company”, but also there is a concept of “Pskov region”. We signed an equipment supply contract with “Fander” company which is based in Pskov region. It is a hefty and liable agreement. Company fully complies with the requirements of such projects. We also consider the local contractor for the construction of sewage facility. As well as we review some companies to provide the logistic transportation service due to the fact that a part of equipment which is shipped by sea to our division in St. Petersburg.  You see how many Pskov companies are involved in the project? Crushed stone, sand, gravel, cement, all of this we buy here and Pskov companies are suppliers. We do what we promised that is we use the services of local enterprises to the maximum.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: When the business takes on its social responsibility is quite a trend now. I found out that GC “Titan” decided to take part in the health professional event “package of thanks”. Why did you take this decision and could you give me a clue what did you put inside?

German Petrushko: I feel sorry for the medical staff as they really live in hospitals, and we need to help them somehow. Things we put in the packages are just a part. There is a group of enthusiasts, who launches a protective screens production and prints them on 3D printer. They contacted us with a call for help to arrange this material.

Of course, we have responded, found and paid for the material. And this is not the only thing when are going to help. We will continue to help further.

Konstantin Kalinichenko: Well, our live stream is going to end. Our guest for today was German Petrushko, who is the General Director of “Pskovsky Zavod “Titan-Polymer” LLC. The plant construction project goes according to schedule, and it means German Lvovich and I hope it is not the last time you come to our studio.

Source: PskovTag, 29.04.2020

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