SIBUR completes framework construction for flagship R&D center in Kazan

SIBUR’s R&D center in Kazan will serve as the largest platform in Russia for developing and scaling petrochemical technologies

SIBUR has completed the construction of the monolithic framework for its flagship Center for Scientific Research and Scale-Up of Chemical Technologies in Kazan. The stage required approximately 15,000 cubic meters of concrete. The glazing of the facades is currently underway, bringing the overall project completion to 55 per cent.

Infrastructure development is also progressing steadily, with utility lines being laid, foundations for off-site facilities and a process overpass being poured, and the installation of a transformer substation underway. By the end of the year, the building’s thermal envelope is expected to be fully closed, and the heating system operational, allowing interior finishing works to begin. Full commissioning of the center is scheduled for the end of 2026.

SIBUR’s R&D center in Kazan will serve as the largest platform in Russia for developing and scaling petrochemical technologies. The complex will consist of two main buildings — a research center and a chemical technology scaling center. The research center will house 30 laboratories dedicated to developing advanced materials, including specialty polymers, high-performance plastics, and technologies for polyolefin and heterogeneous catalysis.

The modular structure of the center will allow simultaneous work on multiple projects, including joint initiatives with scientific and industrial partners. SIBUR is actively collaborating with Kazan National Research Technological University (KNITU) and Kazan Federal University (KFU). A joint laboratory for the development and research of heterogeneous catalysts has already been established with KFU. Additionally, a master’s program in technology scaling will be launched at KNITU in 2025, with graduates gaining the opportunity to work at SIBUR’s research center.

The research center will employ more than 350 scientists, 193 of whom are already working in Kazan. The Scaling Center’s infrastructure is being developed to support the industrial implementation of SIBUR’s proprietary technologies. Its first floor will feature 15 pilot units equipped for organic synthesis, catalyst development, and multicomponent mixture separation technologies. The second floor will host a prototyping center — a unique facility in Russia’s petrochemical industry — where key parameters will be determined to enhance efficiency and accelerate the scalability of new technologies.

According to Ildar Latypov, Senior Manager and Head of the Development Project at the Center for Scaling Up Chemical Technologies, “Currently, 65 per cent of the center’s core process equipment has been contracted. The first rigs and pilot units are expected to arrive in May 2026, including equipment for studying chemical kinetics and vapor-liquid equilibria, a bubble reactor, and Russia’s first pilot distillation column with a separating wall. Russian companies and research centers will supply about 70 per cent of the equipment.”