Linde invests 100m euros in Romania and Czech Republic

German group Linde AG, the industrial gas market leader in Central and Eastern Europe, said it would build three gas separation plants in Romania and in the Czech Republic within a 100 million euro project. The three units’ location coincides with the position of three important clients Linde works with in the two states. The plants are to produce some 2,000 tonnes of oxygen daily.

Linde will deliver gaseous oxygen and nitrogen to its partners through pipelines. At the same time, the plants are to produce some 700 tonnes of liquid oxygen and nitrogen every day, which will be delivered to the partners in a liquefied or compressed form.

One of the three plants will be based in Ramnicu Valcea, where the German group operates through its branch Linde Gaz Romania. Linde has closed a long-term agreement according to which it will deliver oxygen and nitrogen to the Oltchim petrochemical plant, as of 2005.

Moreover, the plant will supply the domestic market up to 200 tonnes of liquefied gases per day. According to the German company, the Ramnicu Valcea-based plant will be the first modern plant for separating and liquefying gases built in Romania after 1990. The other two plants are to be built in the Czech Republic. The largest of them will be based in Vresova, in the West of the country, and will produce, among others, 300 tonnes of liquefied gases daily, which will be sold on the domestic market and on the market in South – East Germany. Linde has recently opened a plant near Prague, the output of which is mainly going to Kaucuk company, held by the petrochemical group Unipetrol. Some other 200 tonnes of liquid oxygen and nitrogen will be supplied every day to the Czech market. “We consider the industrial gas market in Eastern Europe benefits from the fastest growth pace in the world (…),” said Aldo Belloni, member of Linde’s Managing Board and head of the natural gases and engineering division.