Podilsky Cement gets approval for new quarries

Ukraine’s antitrust regulator AMCU gave green light to the Podilsky Cement plant to buy stakes of over 50 per cent in the Behivsky and Popilnyansky crushed stone quarries. Podilsky Cement technical director Stanislav Pohilyak said the plant bought the two quarries in the central Zhytomir region to enter new markets rather than to use their output for cement production.

The Popilnyansky quarry has an annual capacity of over 500,000t of crushed stone, but it plans to produce only 150,000t in 2006, the quarry’s chief accountant said.

Podolsky Cement, based in the western Khmelnitsky region, reported 7.5-fold increase in net profit to 29.1 mln Ukrainian hryvnias (US$5.7m) in 2004. The plant raised its 2005 output by 3.4 per cent year-on-year to 1.856Mt of cement, ranking second in the sector. Podolsky Cement is 93.4 per cent owned by CRH Poland BV. The plant’s annual production capacity is estimated at 3.7Mt.