Rafinerija ulja Modrica thisweek began producing hydrocracked base stocks at its reconstructed plant in Modrica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Modrica refinery stopped producing base stocks in 1992 after the start of the Bosnian War.
An official told Lube Report yesterday that the plant has capacity to make 52,000 metric tons per year of API Group III base oils. Output includes five grades of base oils ranging from 3 centiStoke to 8 centiStoke, insulating transformer oils and paraffin wax.
The plant is part of the companys strategy to produce high quality engine oils.
Located in northern Bosnia, Modrica made base stocks along with finished lubricants and greases leading up to the 1990s. It sustained 23 million in damage during the war, and at one point curtailed all operations except production of lubricants.
It began the long road to recovery in 1996 and restructured as a joint stock company majority-owned by the national government in 2003. It received a further infusion of capital four years later when the Russian company Zarubezneft bought a 75 percent stake. Repairs to the base oil plant began in 2008.