Milan, Italy, February 18, 2004 -- Basell announced today that Salavatnefteorgsintez, a leading Russian petrochemical company controlled by Gazprom, has signed a licensing agreement to use Basell's Hostalen technology for a new 120,000 tonnes per year high density polyethylene plant at Salavat, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia.

Representatives of Basell, Salavatnefteorgsintez, Gazprom and Tecnimont, which will conduct the plant engineering, participated in a signing ceremony in Moscow on February 5th. The plant is scheduled to be completed in 2006.

The Hostalen process is the leading low-pressure slurry cascade process for the production of monomodal and bimodal HDPE, including PE 100 pipe and high tenacity film grades. A key feature of the products from this process is the excellent combination of processability with mechanical product properties.

In addition to developing and licensing polyolefin processes, Basell is the world's largest producer of polypropylene and advanced polyolefins products, and a leading supplier of polyethylene and catalysts. Basell, including its joint ventures, has sales in more than 120 countries. The Basell corporate centre is in Hoofddorp, The Netherlands, and the company has regional offices in Brussels, Belgium; Mainz, Germany; Elkton, Maryland, USA; Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Hong Kong. The company’s Internet address is www.basell.com

For more information, contact Michelle Talmo of Basell’s Corporate Communications Department at +1 302 438 1136 or michelle.talmo@basell.com.