A number of Chinese companies and China Exim Bank show interest in the project for creating the Oil and Gas Processing and Petrochemical Complex (OGPC) in Azerbaijan, Rovnag Abdullayev, head of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), told reporters March 14.

He noted that the work on constructing the OGPC hasn’t been suspended, the work on the project continues and negotiations are underway.

“Earlier, we held talks with potential investors led by Japanese Mitsui company and created a working group,” SOCAR’s president said. “But we considered their proposals ineffective and suspended working with them.”

“We recommended Japanese companies to revise their proposals. If they put forward more precise proposals, we will review them. Otherwise, we will work with the companies which put forward the best proposals,” he added.

The OGPC will be located 60 kilometers from Baku and will consist of three processing enterprises and a thermal power plant.

The project’s implementation will improve the product quality, enhance the export potential of the country and help protect the environment of the capital.

The annual capacity of the refinery within OGPC will be 8.5-9 million tons, the gas processing plant - 12 billion cubic meters, petrochemical production - over 1 million tons (the capacity of the plant for producing polyethylene will be 800,000 tons, polypropylene production unit – 300,000 tons).

The cost of construction of the OGPC is $17.1 billion (including interest on loans received during the construction period). Some 30 percent of the project's cost is planned to be financed with the authorized capital (nearly $5 billion), while 70 percent– with the borrowed capital (about $12 billion).

The total cost of the first phase of the OGPC project is estimated at $7 billion (including interest on loans - $8.45 billion). The payback period of the project will last four to five years.