Russian cement major Eurocement Group has signed a package of contracts with Chinese companies for equipment supply, engineering, installation supervision and employee training services, totalling over US$500m. The contracts were signed with units of China’s Sinoma, CNBM, and Sinomach.

“The contracts signed 20 May 2014 imply a delivery of a complete set of equipment necessary for the construction of new production lines for the production of cement using the so-called dry method,” a press release by Russia’s leading cement producer said.

The new equipment will be used for the construction of new cement plants with a total cement capacity of 17Mta in six Russian regions: Leningrad, Ryazan, Bryansk, Arkhangelsk, Ulyanovsk and Samara.

The contracts were signed in the context of a bilateral meeting between the heads of state of Russia and China. The signing ceremony, held in Shanghai, was attended by Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and China’s President Xi Jinping.

The investment will allow Eurocement to increase its share of dry-process production to 100 per cent by 2018. By the time the programme reaches its conclusion, 63 per cent of all cement manufactured in Russia will be produced using the dry-process method, Eurocement noted.

As the chairman of Eurocement group's Board of Directors, Filaret Galchev, was keen to emphasise: "The signing of these agreements marks the transition to the active phase of Eurocement group's programme to build new plants, and the experience accrued by Chinese companies is making it possible for the holding company to implement cutting-edge technologies from the cement industry. The programme is set to give a huge boost to growth in Russia's construction sector as a whole, by providing high-quality cement for infrastructural and residential projects in the country."