Saint-Gobain and Trakya Cam, a subsidiary of the Sisecam Group, have signed a contract to create a joint venture owned 70% by Trakya Cam and 30% by Saint-Gobain. In order to take advantage of strong market growth in Russia, this company will build a flat glass manufacturing unit, a mirror production line, and a magnetron coater line in the Alabuga special economic area of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Total investments amount to €184 million (~ $256.7 million). Work on building a flat glass (float) production line for the construction and automotive markets is expected to start in the last quarter of 2010, while the investments for installing the mirror and magnetron coater production lines will begin shortly after the flat glass (float) plant is operational in the second half of 2012.

According to Saint-Gobain, this investment in Russia, where the flat glass market has a high growth potential, is a major step in the expansion of Saint-Gobain and Trakya Cam, enabling them to serve their customers effectively from a local industrial center.

For additional details, visit www.saint-gobain.com.