Achema is the largest fertilizer producer in the

Baltic states The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, ...

. It is located in the city of

Jonava Jonava ( ; pl, Janów; german: Janau) is the ninth largest city in Lithuania with a population of . It is located in Kaunas County in central Lithuania, north east of Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. It is served by Kaunas Internat ...

in central

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. In 2011 Achema employed about 1700 workers and reached 2.2 billion Litas revenues (about 640 million Euros), net profit was 96.3 million Litas (27.9 million Euros). The current managing director is Arūnas Laurinaitis. As of 2022 Achema plant in Jonava is the largest natural gas consumer in Lithuania. Plant is supplied via

Minsk–Kaliningrad Interconnection Minsk–Kaliningrad Interconnection is a natural gas pipeline interconnection between Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia, Lithuania and Belarus. Currently it is the only pipeline supplying natural gas to Kaliningrad Oblast. Lithuania has a contract wit ...

link to Jonava.

History

The factory construction began in 1962 as one of the state-owned enterprises, called "Azotas". It became a member of the

International Fertilizer Industry Association The International Fertilizer Association (IFA) promotes the efficient and responsible production,distribution and use of plant nutrients to enable sustainable agricultural systems. IFA a membership consists of more than 400 entities from producers ...

in 1989.

1989 environmental disaster

On 20 March 1989 a rupture of the

liquid ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wast ...

tank occurred at the chemical fertilizer factory, causing a leakage of nearly 7,500 tonnes of ammonia. The catastrophe further developed into a fire at the storehouses of NPK 11-11-11 () and other fertilizers polluting the atmosphere with products of their decomposition:

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has a ...

chlorine gas Chlorine is a chemical element with the symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between them. Chlorine is ...

, etc. The toxic cloud moved towards

Ukmergė Ukmergė (; previously ''Vilkmergė''; pl, Wiłkomierz) is a city in Vilnius County, Lithuania, located northwest of Vilnius, with a population of about 20,000. Etymology and variant names The city took its original name ''Vilkmergė'' from th ...

Širvintos Širvintos () is a city in Vilnius County in the eastern part of Lithuania. It is the administrative center of the Širvintos district municipality. The word ''Širvintos'' is the plural form of the name of the Širvinta River, which flows throug ...

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. First mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle of Hermann de Wartberge, its population is 23, ...

. The concentration of ammonia surpassed the permissible level 150 times in

Upninkai Upninkai is the largest village in Jonava district, Lithuania. It is situated 8 km southwest of Vepriai on the left bank of the Šventoji River. According to the 2011 census, it had population of 786. History Upninkai was first mentione ...

, located 10 km from the enterprise. One day after the accident, a toxic cloud 7 km wide and 50 km long was recorded between Jonava and

. Seven people died during the fire and leakage of ammonia, 29 became handicapped, and more people suffered from acute respiratory and cardiac arrest.

Sistematika department

The beginning of SC "Achema“ subdivision "Sistematika“ work is closely related to the history of SC "Achema“ when automation department was established back in 1964 at that time company "Azotas“. The department was growing together with the company, and in 1999 was reorganized into the subsidiary "Sistematika“ which activity was expanding together with the concern "Achema Group“.

Plant Closure in 2022

The production is suspended as of September 2022 due to high costs for natural gas, which was announced to be a temporary measure in August 2022.

References

Chemical companies of Lithuania 1989 industrial disasters Chemical companies established in 1962 1962 establishments in Lithuania Companies based in Jonava Chemical companies of the Soviet Union {{Environmental-disaster-stub