At the moment, we are finishing the installation work. It should be done by September, and we plan to stream first batches in October, Kalin Runtev, Prista Recycling project manager, told Lube Report on the sidelines of the GBCs CIS Base Oils, Lubricants and Fuels conference in Moscow last week. Construction of the tank park at the plants site is on schedule, he said.

Prista Recycling, part of Prista Oil Group, aims to establish base oil rerefining in Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia. Recently it looked at opportunities to open rerefineries in Russia and Vietnam, the company said.

The Uzbek plant is located in the Angren industrial park near the countrys capital of Tashkent, according to Prista Oil. The plant has capacity to process 45,000 tons of used oil annually and to produce 30,000 metric tons per year of API Group I and Group II-II+ base oils using India-based Sequoias licensed technology that employs vacuum distillation and hydrofinishing, according to Runtev.

The $15 million rerefining project is a joint venture between Bulgarian lube maker Prista Oil Group and Uznefteprodukt, part of state-owned energy giant Uzbekneftegaz.

The joint venture consists of two companies. Uz-Ecoprotect will collect, store, and transport used industrial oils. Uz-Prista Recycling will operate the plant and produce base oil. Uznefteprodukt holds a 49 percent share of the enterprise, while Prista Oil has a controlling stake of 51 percent.

Prista owns a share in another JV with Uzbekneftegaz, an Uz-Prista blending plant acquired from Chevron in 2011.

Bulgarian lubes marketer Prista Oil operates in Eastern, Central and Southeastern Europe, as well as in Central Asia. In October Prista broke ground on the first rerefinery in Ukraine, but the project is now on hold due to the revolution and military conflict there. Bulgarians operate two more blending plants in Bulgaria and in Turkey.