3 FEBRUARY 2012

AIR LIQUIDE announced the acquisition of 75% of the shares of LOGIKA, a regional industrial gas company located in Moscow, Russia, producer of bulk and packaged gases for industrial and medical markets. Air Liquide will invest in a new state-of-the-art Air Separation Unit, (ASU) which will generate liquid oxygen and nitrogen, and in a new cylinder filling center.

Russia's fast growing markets with very high potential include industries requiring increasing amounts of industrial gases such as metal, automotive, welding, glass and food according to the Group‘s communication. The Moscow area, center of the Russian electronics and high-tech industries with about 15% of the country's total population and more than 20% of the country's manufacturing sector bears such potential.  The market for medical gases is « also attractive and growing ».

Under the term of the agreement, the remaining 25% share ownership will remain with Ruselectronics, a subsidiary of the State Corporation Rostechnologii.
The overall investment will amount to around €40million, and Air Liquide's long-term strategic development program in Russia  plans €1 billion investments by 2015.

The Group counts three new sites under construction in Samara, Elabuga and Novgorod, west of the Ural, and five operating production sites located in Saint-Petersburg, Moscow, Cherepovets, Stupino, Ryazan and Elabuga, north east and west of Volvograd. Since 2005, the Russian industrial gases market has been growing 5% annually and is still in development phase.