ST. PETERSBURG, June 21 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Rusnano and US metals giant Alcoa signed a non-binding agreement on Friday which could lead to a joint venture to make nanotech-based protective coating for aluminum pipes used in drilling operations.
“Complex oil and gas development projects require drilling equipment with enhanced capabilities,” Rusnano CEO Anatoly Chubais was quoted as saying in a statement on Rusnano’s site.
Speaking at the international economic forum in St Petersburg, Chubais said that collaboration between the two companies on this is in “the early stages.” He did not specify the amount of investment involved, but said each side could put up “hundreds of millions of rubles.”
Alcoa’s Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said “this is a very, very innovative product – there is nothing like it in the world.”
Alcoa, one of the world's largest alumimum producers, has facilities in Samara and Belaya Kalitva and is Russia’s largest producer of fabricated aluminum, a statement on Rusnano’s website says.
