Praxair Volgograd LLC, a subsidiary of Praxair Inc., announced the start-up of its first large-scale air-separation plant in Volgograd, an industrial region in southern Russia. This plant will produce oxygen, nitrogen and compressed air for Kaustik, a division of the Nikochem Group, under a long-term contract. The plant has a capacity of 350 tons per day and will reduce Kaustik’s electricity consumption at the site by approximately 30%. It will also supply merchant products to local markets such as metals, metal fabrication, automotive and electronics. Praxair has invested in four major projects in Russia with combined production capacity greater than 3,500 tons per day of gaseous and liquid oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and argon.