19 Oct 2007 - Solvay announced that its affiliate for pipes and fittings, Pipelife, has started operating a new factory located 130km southwest of Moscow, in the middle of one of Europe's fastest growing economies. Pipelife will produce a full range of plastic pipe systems for water distribution, sewage networks as well as in-house products. The factory, which features brand new equipment, will offer the most advanced products in Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE) as well as Vinyls, to cover the growing needs of the Russian customers. In a first stage, the factory will employ around 60 people.

Pipelife has been operating for over 5 years in the Russian market through its sales office in Moscow. Miguel Kohlmann, the CEO of Pipelife commented the production start as follows: "Pipelife has a leading position in the markets of Eastern Europe. It started its first operations back in 1990 and now is present in virtually every country of the region. The start up of the new Russian factory highlights the commitment the group has to Eastern Europe and specifically to its largest market Russia".