On September 3, 2013, Rosneft President and Chairman of the Management Board Igor Sechin held a working meeting with Director General of Nairit Plant Ovanes Akhinyan and Deputy Director General for Reconstruction and Development Karen Mirzoyan. The meeting was held just before negotiations between the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

During the working meeting, the parties discussed Rosneft’s potential participation in chloroprene rubber production at Nairit plant. In August 2013, Jacobs Consultancy Ltd conducted a technical and environment audit of chloroprene rubber production from butadiene at Nairit. Rosneft will take a decision whether to take part in this project once it receives the final audit results and discusses the conditions to join the project with the Armenian Government.

Rosneft also reached an agreement with its partner company Pirelli for Pirelli’s delegation to visit the Nairit plant to evaluate and determine possible opportunities for cooperation.

Commenting on the outcome of the working meeting, Rosneft President Igor Sechin said, “We take a favorable view of our cooperation with Armenian partners. We are now expecting final results of Nairit audit and outcome of negotiations with the Armenian Government about tax regime in order to decide whether we should join the project.
We see great opportunities in cooperation with our Armenian partners and we are also confident that there is a vast potential for strategic investments in Armenia, which can give additional business and trade advantages to Rosneft and Russia.”