Russia’s Eurocement Group sees invest at $560 mln in 2005-2008  
   
Russian cement producer Eurocement Group expects its investments to total U.S$560m in 2005-2008, the group’s President Mikhail Skorokhod said Thursday at a round table on cement prices. 
 
Of the total sum, the group plans to invest $237m in maintenance, $265 million in upgrades and $58m in environmental programs.  
 
Cement “shortages” in Russia are expected to amount to 8Mt by 2010, Larisa Barinova, deputy chairman of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s construction and housing committee, said Thursday.  
 
Apparently she referred to the difference between Russian companies’ cement production and cement consumption in the country.  
 
Cement consumption in Russia is expected to amount to between 80Mt and 90Mt by 2010, while Russian companies’ cement production capacities stand at 63Mt to 65Mt, Barinova said citing data released by Eurocement Group.  
 
The depreciation of Russian cement companies’ fixed assets amounts to 70% as of now, Barinova said.  
 
“(Russia’s) cement industry should be preserved. Otherwise the market will depend on (cement) imports and this will aggravate the situation,” Barinova said.