Partners in progress: Huntsman Chemical.

• Author: Swaner, Michele
• Position: Huntsman Chemical Corp.'s joint ventures in the Soviet Union

PARTNERS IN PROGRESS

Utah-based Huntsman Chemical is one of America's largest enterprises doing business in the Soviet Union. Since 1989, the company has successfully undertaken three joint ventures. The first one, in February 1989, was an agreement with the Marriott Corp. and Aeroflot, the Soviet airline, to upgrade the airline's in-flight food service. The newly formed operatin is located outside Moscow. The second undertaking was the construction of a precast concrete plant in Yerevan to provide housing for victims of the 1988 Armenian earthquake. The third was a joint-venture involving the expansion of a polystyrene plant outside of Kiev in the Ukraine.

"The plant in Armenia is strictly a humanitarian effort," said a spokesperson at Huntsman Chemical. "It represents a $2.5 million contribution by the Huntsman family. The precast concrete plant will provide housing for 26,000 people annually. Previously, there had been no plant in Armenia capable of manufacturing precast, hollow-core concrete housing materials."

The concrete plant began production in August of floor and ceiling precast panels. Of Armenia's 3.2 million people, more than 500,000 were left homeless after the December 1988 earthquake. Labor missionaries from the LDS church will provide assistance in running the plant. In addition, Huntsman expects to hire 125 Armenians.

In June the company announced a joint venture to expand an existing polystyrene plant outside of Kiev. The joint venture represents an investment of approximately $40 million on the part of...