Crimea TITAN (; ; ) is the largest manufacturer of

titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound derived from titanium with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or Colour Index Internationa ...

pigment in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. It is located in Armyansk,

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

Location and geography

The plant is located in

, in the northern part of the

Perekop Isthmus The Isthmus of Perekop, literally Isthmus of the Trench (; transliteration: ''Perekops'kyi pereshyiok''; ; transliteration: ''Perekopskiy peresheek,'' , ; ; transliteration: ''Taphros''), is the narrow, wide strip of land that connects the Cr ...

near the coast of the

Sivash The Syvash or Sivash (Russian and Ukrainian: ; , Cyrillic: Сываш, "dirt"), also known as the or (, ''Gniloye More''; , ''Hnyle More''; ), is a large area of shallow lagoons on the western edge of the Sea of Azov. Separated from the sea ...

. It covers an area of . It is connected by railroad to Vadim station on the Odesa railway.

History

The decision to build the Crimean State Production Association "TITAN" (KPO "TITAN") ussian: was made in December 1969. In 1971 a factory producing Ammonium Phosphate was commissioned. In 1973,

aluminium sulfate Aluminium sulfate is a salt with the chemical formula, formula . It is soluble in water and is mainly used as a Coagulation (water treatment), coagulating agent (promoting particle collision by neutralizing charge) in the purification of drinking ...

, and water glass facilities were finished. In 1974, a red iron oxide pigment facility was opened. In 1978, two

pigment plants were commissioned. In March 1999 the KPO "TITAN" became part of the '

Syvash The Syvash or Sivash ( Russian and Ukrainian: ; , Cyrillic: Сываш, "dirt"), also known as the or (, ''Gniloye More''; , ''Hnyle More''; ), is a large area of shallow lagoons on the western edge of the Sea of Azov. Separated from the sea ...

economic zone' ussian:- this free economic zone was an initiative of the

Government of Ukraine The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (), commonly referred to as the Government of Ukraine (), is the highest body of state Executive (government), executive power in Ukraine. As the Cabinet of Ministers of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republi ...

as an experiment. In February 2000, the KPO "TITAN" was converted into the state joint stock company SJSC "TITAN" ussian: In August 2004, the closed joint stock company "Crimean TITAN" ussian: was formed, comprising 50% less one share held by Ostchem Germany GmbH (controlled by Dmitry Firtash). The remaining majority was held by SJSC "TITAN". In December 2012, Group DF acquired 100% of Crimea TITAN's shares.

Crimea annexation

After the

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation In February and March 2014, Russia invaded the Crimea, Crimean Peninsula, part of Ukraine, and then annexed it. This took place in the relative power vacuum immediately following the Revolution of Dignity. It marked the beginning of the Russ ...

in 2014, a company was registered in Moscow as the private limited company "Titanium Investments" ussian: The name of the plant was changed to "Ukrainian Chemical Products" ussian: The location of registration of the company changed from Armyansk to Kyiv. The Moscow-based company leasing the "Ukrainian Chemical Products" plant, as well as supplying and exporting products. The plant was reliant on the production of two Ukrainian mining and enriching plants at Vilnohirsk and Irshansk. Previously these were leased by the plant. In 2014 they were transferred by the Ukrainian government to the Ministry of the Economy, and transferred to the state-owned "United Mining and Chemical Company" ussian: The company remained registered as a Ukrainian enterprise, paying tax on profits in Ukraine. Local taxes were paid in Crimea. The company attempted to continue to receive supplies from Ukraine, avoiding sanctions. Post-2014, the plant suffered with revenue falling by nearly three quarters, from ~$300 million in 2013 to ~$86 million in 2015. Import substitution of Ilmentite from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

began in 2016. Other issues relating to the Ukraine-Russia-Crimea situation included a lack of water for industrial production, due to restrictions on water from Ukraine to supply the

North Crimean Canal The North Crimean Canal, formerly known as the North Crimean Canal of the Lenin's Komsomol of Ukraine in Soviet times, is a land improvement canal for irrigation and watering of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula. The c ...

. Wages were reported as being paid at much-reduced levels. In late 2017, it was reported that the business was still suffering shortages of Ilmenite and operating at ~40-50% capacity, and had been receiving ore from Norway, Sri Lanka, and Brazil. In 2017, Russian state bank

VTB VTB Bank (; formerly known as ''Vneshtorgbank'', , lit. 'International Trade Bank') is a Russian majority state-owned bank headquartered in various federal districts of Russia; its legal address is registered as St. Petersburg. As of 2022, o ...

began bankruptcy proceedings against Titanium Investments, claiming $40 million in unpaid debts. In reaction Dmitry Firtash sought to transfer the business to a new company "TitanActive" ussian: to avoid effects on the business due to the litigation. Places close to the titanium plant, namely Armyansk and

Perekop Perekop ( Ukrainian & Russian: Перекоп; ; ) is a village located on the Perekop Isthmus connecting the Crimean peninsula to the Ukrainian mainland. It is known for the Or Qapi fortress, which served as the gateway to Crimea. The villa ...

, were first reportedly on 23 August 2018 hit by a noxious sulphur dioxide gas allegedly coming from the water reservoir of the plant. 4,000 children were evacuated from Armyansk. Ukrainian authorities claimed that by 10 September 2018, dozens of people had sought medical assistance in mainland Ukraine.Russia evacuates children as Crimea town 'coated in rust'

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

(6 September 2018) Crimean ecologist Margarita Litvinenko claimed that gas was caused, because the water reservoir of the plant did not contain enough water, due to the water shortage in Crimea caused by Ukraine's decision to stop the flow from the

after the Russian annexation of Crimea. In 2023, as the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

was taking place, Ukrainian intelligence claimed that Russia was mining the workshops of the Crimean Titan factory. Retired Ukrainian colonel stated that, should Russia blow up the Crimean Titan factory, a hypothetical Ukrainian attack into Russian-controlled Crimea would be temporarily hindered, unless Ukrainian troops were equipped with chemical protection suits. Svitan said this during an interview shortly after the

destruction of the Kakhovka Dam The Kakhovka Dam was Dam failure, breached in the early hours of 6 June 2023, causing extensive flooding along the lower Dnieper, Dnieper river, also called the Dnipro, in Kherson Oblast. The dam was Russian occupation of Kherson Oblast, ...

, which Ukrainian officials have attributed to Russia.

Production

The plant has two main units («Титан-1» and «Титан-2»), each with a design production capacity of 40,000 tons pa. The production of

Titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound derived from titanium with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or Colour Index Internationa ...

at the plant uses

Ilmenite Ilmenite is a titanium-iron oxide mineral with the idealized formula . It is a weakly magnetic black or steel-gray solid. Ilmenite is the most important ore of titanium and the main source of titanium dioxide, which is used in paints, printi ...

as a feedstock, using concentrated

Sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

to dissolve the ground ore. Iron-based impurities are reduced to Iron (II) in solution. The liquid mixture is then filtered. Iron (II) is removed by selective crystallization and centrifugal separation upon cooling of the solution. Next, the Titanyl sulfate solution is evaporatively concentrated. The Titanyl sulfate solution is hydrolyzed producing amorphous flakes of Titanium dioxide, which are then filtered and washed. Filtered Titanium dioxide is then calcined to drive off water. Further surface treatment and grinding may be applied to the Titanium dioxide for specific uses or properties of the Titanium dioxide pigment. In addition to its primary product (~90% of exports), the plant generates red iron oxide pigment, mineral fertilizers,

sulfuric acid Sulfuric acid (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphuric acid (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling), known in antiquity as oil of vitriol, is a mineral acid composed of the elements sulfur, oxygen, ...

, aluminum sulfate, water glass,

iron sulfate Iron sulfate may refer to: * Ferrous sulfate, Iron(II) sulfate, FeSO4 * Ferric sulfate, Iron(III) sulfate Iron(III) sulfate or ferric sulfate (British English: sulphate instead of sulfate) is a family of inorganic compounds with the formula Fe2( ...

copper sulfate Copper sulfate may refer to: * Copper(II) sulfate, CuSO4, a common, greenish blue compound used as a fungicide and herbicide * Copper(I) sulfate, Cu2SO4, an unstable white solid which is uncommonly used {{chemistry index Copper compounds ...

, and alkaline sodium and lithium chemicals. Titanium dioxide is popular in the CIS countries and abroad. Supplies go to countries such as

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

and

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

References

External links