Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. I.Khalilova / Natig Shirinzadeh, the Chairman of the Council of Directors of AzRosPromInvest joint enterprise, stated on 16 August that the Azerbaijani founders of the Azerbaijani-Russian joint enterprise AzRosPromInvest have not carried out all contract responsibilities, while the Russians have already invested $3.5mln in producing and processing the bentonitic clay project situated in Dash Salahli village of the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan.
The liabilities of the Azerbaijani side include the transfer of the rights on using the field for a twenty-five-year term within a month after signing the contract.
Despite constructive position of the Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry and State Committee on Management State Property the issue has not yet been resolved.
After resolving the issue, AzRosPromInvest intends to appeal to the Government with a proposal on decreasing tariffs on transporting the production via railway. The company wishes to address the world's large demand for bentonitic clay, which AzRosPromInvest will be able to produce after implementation of the project; it currently transfers bentonitic clay to the Ilskiy plant in the Kransnadar province-based plant. The plant is the daughter company of the Russian partner of AzRosPromInvest. Tariffs for transporting from Gazakh to Yalami railway is $16 per one ton.
The annual capacity of the plant after the implementation of the project will be 250t of bentonitic clay per day or 7,000t per month. The announced volume of investments is $12mln. The inventory in the Dash Salahli field is 83mln t.
