Solvay Sodi, part of the Belgian chemicals & drugs group Solvay, will put US$ 25M in environment protection projects by 2009 in order to meet EU quality standards, the Bulgarian soda ash producer said 29/12/05. Bulgaria's Environment Ministry requires all chemical plants to implement environment protection programmes in order to meet stringent EU requirements, said Solvay Sodi PR chief, Violeta Targova. Bulgaria hopes to join the EU on 1 January 2007. Solvay Sodi, in which Solvay, Turkish glass maker Sisecam and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) jointly hold 98%, posted a net profit in 2004 of US$ 13.7M, down 5.4% from 2003. The company produced over 1M/t soda ash in 2005, said Targova. She gave no comparative output figures & declined to disclose financial details of the company's performance. Solvay Sodi has an installed output capacity of 1.2 million tonnes of soda ash, 800,000 tonnes of which is heavy soda ash and 400,000 tonnes of which is light soda.
