SAO PAULO, Brazil, Dec. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BRASKEM (BOVESPA: BRKM3, BRKM5 and BRKM6; NYSE: BAK; LATIBEX: XBRK), the leading company in the thermoplastic resins industry in Latin America and third-largest Brazilian industrial company owned by the private sector, announces, in partnership with Pequiven, the creation of two companies to install in Venezuela the most modern and competitive integrated petrochemical project in the Americas, at the Jose Petrochemical Complex. The official announcement of the creation of Propilsur and Polimerica is being made today, December 13, in Caracas during a meeting held between the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and the president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Prolipropileno del Sur, S.A. - Propilsur will be responsible for the construction of a polypropylene plant with capacity of 450,000 t/year integrated into a propane dehydrogenation unit, providing the project with greater integration and operational flexibility. In light of this new scope, the total investment in the project is estimated at approximately US$ 900 million. The operational startup of Propilsur is expected for the second half of 2010.
Polietilenos de America, S.A. - Polimerica will be responsible for the construction of an ethane cracker with natural gas as feedstock, with ethylene production capacity of 1.3 million t/year, combined with the production of 1.1 million t/year of polyethylene, which will be produced in three industrial plants -- high density polyethylene, low density polyethylene and low linear density polyethylene, with estimated cost of US$2.6 billion and operational startup scheduled for the second half of 2012.
Based on the shareholders' agreement signed today, the companies will be equally controlled by Braskem and Pequiven and will be based on modern corporate governance practices, ensuring equal rights for partners in the management and equal representation in the Board of Directors, where decisions will be taken based on the shareholders consensus.
The hired financial advisor has already started contacting multilateral organizations, export credit agencies, development banks and private banks for structuring financing for 70% of the total investment through project finance and the remaining 30% through transfers in equal proportions by the partners.
For additional information, please contact Braskem's Investor Relations Area:
Luiz Henrique Valverde, (+55 (11) 3576-9744,
