Azerbaijan's first industrial explosives plant has started operating in test mode

Azerbaijan's first industrial explosives plant, built in Ganja by AzerBlast LLC, a subsidiary of AzerGold Closed Joint Stock Company (CJSC), has started operating in test mode.

Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources Mukhtar Babayev, Head of State Service on Property Issues under the Ministry of Economy, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of "AzerGold" CJSC Metin Eynullayev, Deputy Minister of Economy, Samed Bashirli, Head of Ganja City Executive Power Niyazi Bayramov, Chairman of the Board of "AzerGold" CJSC Zakir Ibrahimov, members of the "DM Service" company, which is a private partner of "AzerBlast" LLC, as well as representatives of the Ministries of Ecology and Natural Resources, Economy, and Azerbaijan Investment Holding, were present at the event. 

The participants of the event were familiarized with the conditions created at the "AzerBlast" LLC enterprise, established based on a public-private partnership model, as well as the need to meet the growing demand for civil explosives in our country and eliminate dependence on imports. 

Rizvan Bakhshiyev, the General Director of AzerBlast LLC, provided details on the present capabilities and production technologies of the plant. He stated that it is the sole civil explosives production enterprise in Azerbaijan and is presently producing ANFO (types of explosives intended for use in dry environments) and H-ANFO (types of explosives intended for use in wet environments) explosives that are utilized in the mining and construction industries. 

It was noted that the construction of the plant, with a total area of 5,665 square meters, began in January 2023, with the construction process taking 12 months. The production line of the plant is organized according to the technological design of the Turkish “HTD Kimya v Mühendislik A.Ş” company and uses equipment manufactured in Germany, the UK, and Turkiye. 

Drawing attention to the fact that at present the demand for industrial explosives in our country is satisfied by imports, it was emphasized that with the start of operation of the plant in full mode, the demand for industrial explosives in Azerbaijan will be satisfied by local production, and the dependence on imports will be eliminated. 

To this end, the enterprise, which will start work at the initial stage with a staff of 35 people, plans to increase the number of employees to 65 during the active production period. 

It should be noted that AZN 15 million has been invested in the project of the plant to produce industrial explosives. The founders of "AzerBlast" LLC invested these funds without incurring any additional expenditures on the state budget. The purpose of the construction of the plant in Ganja is its location near the main mining industrial center of our country, as well as making an additional contribution to the increase of economic activity and employment in the region.