The construction of the Kirishi refinery began in 1961 in the town of Kirishi, in the Leningrad region. The project's first phase was commissioned in March 1966. The plant was originally designed as a low conversion refinery with a high mazut output, which was mainly supplied to the North-West region of Russia, the Baltics, Belarus and Ukraine.

Since 1993, the plant has been incorporated into the company Surgutneftegaz and has been renamed Kirishnefteorgsintez (KINEF). Today, it produces over 40 types of petroleum products, including motor fuel, jet fuel, mazut, etc. Petrochemicals, including benzene, toluene, ortho-and para-xylene and liquid paraffin oil make up about a third of the company's product range. The company's products are available in Russia (mainly in the Central and North-Western regions) and are also exported to Europe.

In 2005-2010, the facility went through a major renovation, replacing obsolete equipment. A total of about $2.75 billion was invested in the renovation, which increased the facility's production capacity to 21.5 million tonnes. It also resulted in an almost twofold reduction in emissions, from 49 thousand tonnes to 26 thousand tonnes.

The second phase of the project includes the construction of a high conversion refinery. The new facility will enable the discontinuation of the production of diesel fuel with sulfur content of 0.2% and launch the production of Euro 5 (17%), Euro-4 (29%), Euro-3 (22%) and Euro-2 (32%) diesel fuel grades.

The project was launched in May 2007 and is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2011. The total investment is estimated at 82.4 billion roubles. Extensive testing and commissioning is expected in the first quarter of 2012.

In April 2011, a contract was signed for the basic engineering of an LC-2B high octane gasoline production facility with a capacity of two million tonnes per year (of raw materials). The low-octane components of the existing plant and hydro cracking will be used as the raw materials. The facility is estimated to cost about $1 billion. After launching the new facilities in 2015, all gasoline produced at KINEF (over 3 million tonnes per year) will conform to Euro 5 standards.

Environmental issues are of great concern to the company's management. Since 2004, investments in environmental safety have totaled 7.3 billion roubles. Today, the plant operates 13 dust and gas treatment facilities, which provide a high degree of emissions control.

In 2010, capital investment in the renovation and modernization of the existing facilities totaled around 3.5 billion roubles, and over four billion roubles have been invested in 2011.

KINEF is the only major employer in Kirishi. It contributes to over 40% of the Leningrad region's budget revenues. The company employs over 6,500 people, of whom 77.5% have worked at the company for more than 5 years and 21.6% for over 20 years. The average age of employees is 41 years, and over 20% of the employees are under 30 years of age.