The 50^th General Meeting of

the International Association Intercable

The 50^th General Meeting of the International Association Intercable (IA Intercable) took place in the city of Ekaterinburg, Russia, on November 16 – 21 of 2015. It was an anniversary meeting as the IA Intercable is turning 25 this year. The 1990s was economically a challenging time for the countries that used to be part of the former Soviet Union as well as for the Eastern European states. The new era that dawned created a need for new ways of cross-border cooperation. Thus, the creation of the IA Intercable was in line with the needs of the industry in terms of its economic, scientific and technical evolution. From the onset, the IA Intercable maintained an open-door policy, striving to create a diverse international member base, drawing into its ranks not only cable manufacturers, but also equipment manufacturers and compound producers. Initially, while transitioning from the centralized planning to a decentralized economic model, companies from the former Soviet Union were not ready for establishing direct contacts with their Western counterparts. Therefore, one of the main priorities for the IA Intercable at the time was to help facilitate such contacts and foster cooperation, including helping to set up joint ventures. In parallel, the IA Intercable has been organizing scientific & technical symposiums that focus on the most pressing issues within the industry. It also contributes to the international cable-related trade exhibits (Dusseldorf, Moscow).

The Technical Director of Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC), Dr. A. Panshin, gave a welcome address and an overview of UMMC. The Head of the Administration Office of the City of Ekaterinburg, Mr. A. Yakob, told the IA Intercable members about the scientific and industrial base of the city as well as the prospects for its growth and development.

A scientific & technical symposium was held within the framework of the IA Intercable 50^th General Meeting on the following topic: Power Cables – design, recent technology trends, manufacturing equipment, materials and test equipment. There were a total of 14 presentations on this topic at the symposium:

· The current state of power cables manufacturing in Russia and in the other CIS countries (NP “Association “Electrokabel,” Russia)

· Maillefer Value Offering in High Voltage Insulation Process (Maillefer Extrusion Oy, Finland)

· Your success is our passion (Rosendahl Nextrom GmbH, Austria)

· SAMP solutions for power cable manufacturing (SAMP S.p.A. Sampsistemi Division, Italy)

· The cost reduction in power cable industry (Zumbach Electronic AG, Switzerland)

· Manufacturing of conductors for energy cable - the latest generation of NIEHOFF rod breakdown lines and their benefits for NIEHOFF customers (Maschinenfabrik NIEHOFF GmbH & Co. KG, Germany)

· Power cable: stranding, cabling and armoring technology (Pourtier s.a.s./Setic s.a.s., France)

· Equipment of FRIGECO for power cable production (Mario Frigerio S.p.A, Italy)

· From conductor to power cable – Benefits of quality assurance at difference production stages (SIKORA AG, Germany)

· The Production of large Compact Conductors, Utilizing Roll Forming Technology in conjunction with Double Twist, Single Twist and Conventional Stranding Techniques (Ceeco Bartell Products, Bartell Machinery Systems LLC, USA)

· Moisture curable polyolefin blends for flexible cable insulation (Dow Europe GmbH, Switzerland)

· Recent development in insulation materials for power cables (Borealis AG, Austria)

· New materials for special application power cables (“Prominvest Plastic” Ltd., Ukraine)

· Cold shrink kids by ENSTO (“ENSTO RUS” Ltd., Russia)

The slides from these presentations will appear in a printed summary of reports that is published semiannually, after each scientific & technical symposium and distributed by the IA Intercable to its members and guest presenters.

The IA Intercable welcomed a new member to its ranks: UC RUSAL (Russia), which is the largest aluminum producer on the post-Soviet marketplace. The membership of VUJE Inc. (Slovakia) was terminated at the request of the company’s management. In accordance with the Bylaws, PKF “Sevkavkabel” Ltd. (Russia) and Momentive Performance Materials Rus (Russia) had their membership cancelled due to their delinquency in payment of membership fees.

The participants of the 50^th General Meeting went on a technical tour to a copper smelting plant “Uralelectromed” and cable companies “Katur-Invest” (town of Verkhnyaya Pushma) and “Uralkabel” (city of Ekaterinburg).

The next General Meeting of the IA Intercable will take place on June 13 – 17 of 2016 in the city of Helsinki, Finland. The following is going to be the topic for the scientific & technical symposium: Improving cable manufacturing processes and the quality of the cable products.