Rbls. 1056 mln. is funded and spent for the Mill "5000" reconstruction in 2004. Last year, cooling & inspection line as well as steel plate shearing & finishing line have been installed (presently, these lines are being adjusted for operation in automatic mode); a system of rolled product tracking along the whole line from the preheating furnaces through the shearing line have been commissioned. In addition, the reconstruction of one of five furnaces has been carried out, which increased the bogie hearth furnace throughput up to 120 thou.t.

With realization of all these actions, the first stage of the reconstruction program, which envisaged the Mill annual production growth by 450 thou.t, shall be completed. 
At the same time the factory has started realization of the second stage of actions intended for the build-up of steel rolled products output. Investments into reconstruction of Mill 5000 in 2005 will make about Rbls. 1300 mln.

One of the second stage major actions is the construction of a new preheating furnace intended for 600 thou.t of annual throughput. The project was initiated in the III-rd quarter of 2004.

Along with the construction of the new furnace, construction of a slab yard for 15-days reserve of slabs is in process, as well as installation of the hydraulic scale remover chamber and the work on the mill automation. The laboratory for testing samples is almost ready for commissioning. At the end of 2005 - the beginning of 2006, the erection of additional bays for the slab yard (ready products) is planned.

Commissioning of the preheating furnace is planned in the 1-st quarter of 2006; some other objects shall be commissioned in 2005-2006.

All the a.m. actions shall provide the manufacture of 800-850 thou.t of steel rolled products per annual.

This build-up of the production capacities of the Russia's only wide strip mill is dictated, first of all, by the necessity to supply skelps for production of large diameter pipes at Izhorski trubny zavod in Kolpino, and at the same time, by the necessity to provide JIT shipments to the key clients - both producers of pipes and shipbuilders.