Wacker Strengthens Collaboration with Russian Silicone Producer

Munich -- WACKER, the Munich-based chemical company, and Russian silicone producer Penta 91 are intensifying their collaboration in the Russian market. Penta 91 will immediately start selling WACKERs hot- and cold-curing two-component silicones in addition to the existing solid silicone rubber grades. The company has already been manufacturing special silicone compounds using WACKER materials for the Russian market since 2008. These ready-to-use compounds will now be sold under Pentas brand name PENTASIL and labelled "Based on ELASTOSIL". The ELASTOSIL brand covers a wide range of high-quality silicone products from WACKER. Customers of silicone compounds include the automotive, construction, electronics, cable and household goods industries.

Based in Moscow, the silicone producer Penta 91 has been the official sales partner for ELASTOSIL solid silicone rubber grades in the Russian Federation since as early as 2003. As agreed, Penta 91 may now also distribute high- (HTV) and room-temperature-crosslinking (RTV) silicone rubber grades as well as the liquid silicone rubber grades ELASTOSIL, POWERSIL, SEMICOSIL and CENUSIL. Penta may also apply the "Based on ELASTOSIL" label for its own PENTASIL series, when processing silicones from WACKER. Silicone compounds are particularly found in segments such as power transmission and distribution, electronics, automotive, cable, household appliances, mechanical engineering, and medical technology.

"Collaboration with Penta 91 has proven to be very effective over the years. The company has in-depth expertise in silicone elastomers and has earned an excellent reputation in this market," said Dr. Bernd Pachaly, head of the Engineering Silicones Business Unit, in explaining the decision. "While strengthening our sales channels, we decided to also entrust Penta 91 with the distribution of our LSR and RTV-2 silicones under the well-known WACKER trademarks. We are convinced that intensified collaboration with Penta 91 will help extend our market leadership and provide broader access to WACKERs advanced technology to customers in Russia."

Penta 91 CEO Gennadyi Slavin praised the joint declaration as a key milestone in collaborative work with the Munich-based chemical company. "We are able to produce customized end products from WACKERs high-quality silicone rubber materials. This opens up entirely new sales markets and possibilities to serve our customers." Slavin considered it a special sign of trust that Penta 91s WACKER-based silicone compounds are allowed to be sold under the "Based on ELASTOSIL" label. "The ELASTOSIL trademark stands the world over for top quality and optimum customer satisfaction, both of which certainly apply to us, too."

The ELASTOSIL brand covers a wide range of high-quality silicone products from WACKER with extremely diverse properties. RTV-2 silicones have diverse uses as sealants, adhesives, and as encapsulation and coating compounds. Hence, they are applied in a wide variety of industrial areas, including the automotive, electronic, construction and domestic product industries, as well as in the fields of mechanical and medical engineering. For the manufacture of silicone compounds, the crosslinker, pigment and other additives are usually mixed into the rubber base. Typical applications range from automotive gaskets through cable insulation to rubber-coated rolls in photocopiers.