The win to build Uganda’s oil refinery in the Albertine region by a Russian company, RT Global Resources, is a key achievement to the Russians that marks a strategic Russian entry into East and Central Africa where they plan to trade in Russian technology, equipment and expertise.
A statement posted on the company’s website said, “The Rostec win in this (Ugandan) tender was the first achievement of this kind for a Russian company in Africa in (the) new history of Russia….Implementation of this project will generate additional demand for high-tech Russian equipment-within the scope of this project we will see the transfer of Russian technologies.”
RT Global Resources is a subsidiary of the Russiaan state-owned Rostec. According to their website, “ROSTEC is a Russian corporation established in 2007 to promote the development, production and export of hi-tech products. It includes 663 organizations, which form eight holding companies in the defense industry and five in civilian industries.”
According to Sergey Chemezov, CEO of Rostec. “The consortium led by RT Global Resources Company won the tender for construction of the refinery as a result of tough, transparent competitive struggle with global companies.”
He said the implementation of the project will serve to strengthen Russia and Uganda relations, and will provide a sound base “for advancing Russia’s interests in the whole of Eastern Africa. Global suppliers with the most competitive technologies and implementation experience of similar projects will be involved. Nevertheless the priority will be given to the Russian technologies that will encourage the increase of high-tech export.”
Initially, 75 companies and consortiums participated in the tender. Out of these, only six consortiums were invited by the Government of Uganda to submit their bids in May 2014. These were: China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau (China); Marubeni Corporation (Japan); Petrofac (UK); SK Energy (South Korea); Vitol (Netherlands) and RT Global Resources. After detailed analysis of the bids two consrtiums were selected – consortium RT Global Resources (Tatneft and VTB Capital) and a South Korea consortium led by SK Energy.
According to Andrey Korobov, Head of RT Global Resources, “The bids were assessed on the basis of many indicators: technical parameters of the project, advanced technologies utilization, composition and quality of finished products, financial productivity of the refinery, details of commercial and financial plans, technical, financial and organization opportunities of the participants, availability to finance the project, crude oil buying plans.”
“In the end the Russian consortium almost overtook South Korean SK by all these parameters,” Korobov said in a statement seen by The Infrastructure Online.
The Russian consortium since reviewed composition of its participants: RT Global Resources, Tatneft and VTB Capital (all Russian) have now been joined by Korean company GS, the operator and developer of the fourth biggest refinery in the world in terms of size in South Korea. GS, according to RT Resources will bring to the consortium “additional competencies and international expertise.”
RT Global resources said, the Ugandan project will be delivered using “international contractors with the most competitive technologies and operational experience of such projects; the priority will be given to advanced Russian technologies.”
