Bulgaria's Plama refinery is set to re-open at the end of the year for lubricants and fuel production.
The Plama site closed in 1999 after the privately-owned refinery went bankrupt. Now, under new ownership, the plant will focus on producing 300,000 tons of lubricants and base oils at startup.
Total capacity is likely to be 700,000 tons, including diesel, which is more than a third lower than the refinery's previous capacity. Plama remains in private ownership after it was bought in 2007 by investor Angel Stefanov for BGN 44.4m ($31.5m) who now owns a 65% share in the operation with the remainder being held by gas supplier, Overgas.
Stefanov has already invested around BGN20m ($14m) in a vacuum plant and a further $80m is earmarked for more development of the site over the next two years, with the government also offering state backing.
Once onstream, Plama will provide 500-600 jobs and product will be for both the domestic market and export. The majority of total production will be refined, high quality lubricants with a further 30% being diesel and the rest being aviation fuel and fuel oil. The owners' stated aim is to re-instate the Plama brand as a major European producer of light base lubricants.