Unipetrol RPA, s.r.o. will shut down its ethylene unit for a brief period this evening.

The ethylene unit will be shut down for no more than 5 days, including the shut-down and start-up times. The reason is a repair of the process subsystems, some of which need to be sent abroad for repair. Also, during the shutdown, the provisional connection equipment supplying the high-pressure exhaust gas from the Pyrotol process to the ethylene unit for substitute processing will be completely cleared.

This short-term shutdown will not affect the downstream polyethylene and polypropylene production processes.

Simultaneously, negotiations with the contractor of the heat exchange apparatus (the so-called cold box) PA701 continue and in coming weeks we will know the information about restoration of this piece of equipment that is necessary for start-up of the ethylene unit on its full capacity.

Prague, 20 November 2007

UNIPETROL, a.s.