Ostchem Holding is a holding company that unites a group of chemical factories and supporting companies. In its turn Ostchem is a part of bigger

Group DF Group DF is a diversified international group of companies whose assets are concentrated in the chemical industry, titanium production, gas, and banking sectors. In addition, the group has interests in several other areas: agriculture, media busine ...

that unites several separate enterprises and other holding companies and is owned by Ukrainian oligarch

Dmytro Firtash Dmytro Vasylovych Firtash ( uk, Дмитро́ Васи́льович Фі́рташ; born 2 May 1965) is a Ukrainian businessman who heads the board of directors of Group DF. He was highly influential during the Yuschenko administration and th ...

. On 20 December 2016 Ostchem announced about its mass layoffs.

Description

In the spring of 2011, Ostchem Holding strengthened its position in Ukraine by acquiring the right to import Central Asian gas for chemical companies. In 2011, the company bought gas in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, importing 4.8 billion cubic meters of fuel a year. But since 2012, Ostchem has been buying gas directly from Gazprom. Ostchem, having supplanted the state monopoly of Naftogaz Ukrainy, received special price conditions for gas supplies. In January, Naftogaz was the only importer of Russian gas to the country, including Ostchem, which bought 2.4 billion cubic meters from Gazprom. But since February 2013, the situation has changed. "Naftogaz bought in Russia only 0.4 billion cubic meters, and Ostchem - 2.4 billion, exceeding its quarterly needs. It is among world leading companies in production of

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that has a net charge that is not zer ...

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 was ...

, and

urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important r ...

. Ostchem made its mother company Group DF third biggest world producer of ammonia in the world in 2013 yielding only to Norwegian

Yara International Yara International ASA is a Norwegian chemical company. It produces, distributes, and sells nitrogen-based mineral fertilizers and related industrial products. Its product line also includes phosphate and potash-based mineral fertilizers, as well ...

, American

CF Industries CF Industries Holdings, Inc. is an American manufacturer and distributor of agricultural fertilizers, including ammonia, urea, and ammonium nitrate products, based in Deerfield, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded in 1946 as the Centra ...

and surpassing Canadian

PotashCorp The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, also known as PotashCorp, was a company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The company merged with Calgary-based Agrium to form Nutrien, in a transaction that closed on January 1, 2018. The company was th ...

. Ostchem includes smaller companies in production of

nitrogen fertilizers A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

, their distribution and transportation. Main products include

such as ammonia, urea,

ammonium nitrate Ammonium nitrate is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is a white crystalline salt consisting of ions of ammonium and nitrate. It is highly soluble in water and hygroscopic as a solid, although it does not form hydrates. It is ...

, CAN (

calcium ammonium nitrate Calcium ammonium nitrate or CAN, also known as nitro-limestone or nitrochalk, is a widely used inorganic fertilizer, accounting for 4% of all nitrogen fertilizer used worldwide in 2007. Production The term "calcium ammonium nitrate" is applied ...

UAN UAN is a solution of urea and ammonium nitrate in water used as a fertilizer. Uan or UAN may also refer to: * Adapa, an alternate name for the first of the Mesopotamian seven sages * Autonomous University of Nayarit ((in Spanish: ), a Mexican pu ...

(

urea ammonium nitrate UAN is a solution of urea and ammonium nitrate in water used as a fertilizer. Uan or UAN may also refer to: * Adapa, an alternate name for the first of the Mesopotamian seven sages * Autonomous University of Nayarit ((in Spanish: ), a Mexican publ ...

), and

ammonium sulfate Ammonium sulfate (American English and international scientific usage; ammonium sulphate in British English); (NH4)2SO4, is an inorganic salt with a number of commercial uses. The most common use is as a soil fertilizer. It contains 21% nitrogen a ...

. Beside fertilizers, the factories of the company produce products of

organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the intentional construction of organic compounds. Organic molecules are often more complex than inorganic compounds, and their synthesis has developed into one o ...

and

organic acids An organic acid is an organic compound with acidic properties. The most common organic acids are the carboxylic acids, whose acidity is associated with their carboxyl group –COOH. Sulfonic acids, containing the group –SO2OH, are rel ...

( adipic and

acetic acid Acetic acid , systematically named ethanoic acid , is an acidic, colourless liquid and organic compound with the chemical formula (also written as , , or ). Vinegar is at least 4% acetic acid by volume, making acetic acid the main component ...

methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...

caprolactam Caprolactam (CPL) is an organic compound with the formula (CH2)5C(O)NH. This colourless solid is a lactam (a cyclic amide) of caproic acid. Global demand for this compound is approximately five million tons per year, and the vast majority is used ...

(CPL),

vinyl acetate Vinyl acetate is an organic compound with the formula CH3CO2CH=CH2. This colorless liquid is the precursor to polyvinyl acetate and ethene-vinyl acetate copolymers, important industrial polymers. Production The worldwide production capacity of v ...

, polystyrol).

List of production factories

* Azot (

Cherkasy Cherkasy ( uk, Черка́си, ) is a city in central Ukraine. Cherkasy is the Capital city, capital of Cherkasy Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of Cherkasky Raion (Raion, district) within the oblast. The c ...

, Ukraine) * Stirol (

Horlivka Horlivka ( , ; uk, Го́рлівка ), or Gorlovka (russian: link=no, Горловка ), is a city of regional significance in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. In 2001, the city's population was 292,000, and it was estimated as Economic activit ...

, Ukraine) *

Sievierodonetsk Association Azot Sievierodonetsk Association "Azot" is chemical producer based in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine. It is the third largest producer of ammonia in the country and one of the largest in Europe; producing nitrogen fertilizers, methanol, ac ...

(

Severodonetsk russian: Северодоне́цк , other_name = Severodonetsk , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = Severodoneck prapor.png , image_shield ...

, Ukraine) * Rivneazot (

Rivne Rivne (; uk, Рівне ),) also known as Rovno (Russian: Ровно; Polish: Równe; Yiddish: ראָוונע), is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the surrounding Rivne Raio ...

, Ukraine) * Nitrofert (

Kohtla-Järve Kohtla-Järve is a city and municipality in northeastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of various petrochemical products ...

, Estonia) * Tajik Azot (

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (r ...

, Tajikistan)Tajik Azot
Tajikistan portal During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, the Azot plant in

Sievierodonetsk russian: Северодоне́цк , other_name = Severodonetsk , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_flag = Severodoneck prapor.png , image_shield ...

became a key site in the battle of Sievierodonetsk.

Logistics

Distribution of the products is realized through "UkrAhro NPK" that possess the biggest network of agrarian warehouses in Ukraine (accounts for 28). Transportation of the products outside of Ukraine is conducted through a specialized marine terminal located in

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( uk, Миколаїв, ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Southern Ukraine, the Administrative centre, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv city, which provides U ...

and oscillated into a separate seaport " Nika-Terra" at the northern tip of Dnieper-Bug Estuary.

References

External links

Official website
{{Group DF Holding companies of Ukraine Ukrainian companies established in 2004