Prime Minister Vladimir Putin pushed a red button and activated the all new Mk 2000 cold-rolling mill.

Before that, Mr Putin talked to corporate executives and buyers of the product made at this plant. They told him that the plant's high quality steel made it possible to reduce car body weight by an average of 25%. The first 120 tonnes of sheet metal will be delivered to automotive giant AvtoVAZ.

The prime minister asked the Minister of Industry and Trade, Viktor Khristenko, how much steel the automotive industry will use annually. Mr Khristenko said it would use about a million tonnes of high quality sheet metal for body panels and at least 2.5 million tonnes of cold-rolled stock for structural parts per year. Mr Putin noted, if the plant could manufacture 1.5 million tonnes now, then it could expand production by another million tonnes. "Most importantly, major auto companies from around the world can now work with this new plant," the prime minister said.

The prime minister also talked to some German specialists employed at the plant in their native language and also to Heinrich Weiss, Board Chairman with the SMS Simag Group.

Vladimir Putin received a badge certifying that he had taken part in commissioning the first stage and wrote his autograph on a shop wall, wishing the employees good luck.

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The cold-rolling mill, with an annual capacity of two million tonnes, is primarily intended to manufacture top-quality cold-rolled and galvanised steel sheet for the external and structural components of motor vehicles, household appliances and for the construction industry. The entire project is to receive an estimated $1.5 billion worth of investment.

The new facility will make it possible to meet the Russian automotive industry's entire demand for durable cold-rolled steel stock and to meet most of the requirements of the foreign carmakers that operate in this country.

The first stage is scheduled to attain manufacturing capacity by October 2011. Plans call for the second stage to be completed in 2012, and the facility is to attain full capacity in 2013.