TOBOLSK /Tyumen region/, December 1. /TASS/. Global demand for petrochemical products is expected to grow by about 4% annually, while the demand for oil will grow only by 1%, Russian President Vladimir Putin This announced on Tuesday. He was speaking at a meeting for the strategic development of the petrochemical industry.
"By the way, this is very promising. The expected average annual growth rate of world demand [for petrochemical products] is somewhere under 4%. Over the next five years, the demand for oil will be growing by only 1%, and then there will be a general decline, to 0.1," the Russian leader said.
Putin noted that the Russian petrochemical industry has "huge growth potential" and urged promotion of Russian petrochemical products domestically and abroad.
"For this purpose, large-scale projects with a total investment of about 5 trillion rubles ($66 bln) must be implemented in the industry," the President said.
Putin noted that a total of 14 such projects should be implemented in Russia.
Touching upon the topic of import substitution in the petrochemical industry the President said that the rate of import substitution in low-tonnage petrochemical industry is insufficient. The share of imports remains at a high level, so efforts must be made to change the existing proportion, he said.
"Domestic demand in this area, of course, significantly exceeds what we are currently producing, and is covered by imports. For some items, dependence on foreign suppliers reaches 100%. Of course, this situation needs to be changed," the President noted.