Inauguration of Air Liquide Hellas new filling center in Thessaloniki

The filling center has a capacity of 2.500 cylinders per day and will be able to accomodate Air Liquide subsidiairies in Romania, Bulgaria and Serbia. Industrial, medical and specialty gases and mixtures will be bottled in a site that is one of the pioneering of Air Liquide Europe-wide.

Air Liquide Hellas is established in Thessalonikis industrial area, Sindos. It operates one primary production unit, an industrial and medical gases filling station as well as a hydrogene one. In December 2007 the works for the expansion of the filling center were finished. The new filling center was designed and materialized by the Thessalonikis Industrial Direction team.

In the new filling center operates a ramp, which is a recognized innovation of the Group, conceptualized and constructed by Air Liquide Hellas' team, aiming at increasing the safety level as well as the quality of the product.

Air Liquide Hellas Facility Manager in Thessaloniki, Costas Nassopoulos, explains: «The main problem during filling of pressurized gases is to fill low pressure cylinders in a higher one. The problem resolved by this innovativation concerns exactly this: by having 2 safety valves the possibility of an error for the operator is minimized. Up to today there are no filling ramps in two different pressure levels. They were constructed on a local level and they were not certified by the Group of Experts of the Group. The filling ramp we operate has been one of last year's innovation and certified as such.»

«We are very proud for our new filling center: First because Air Liquide proved that it is alwyays proactive, thus ready to respond to the additional nees of its clients. Second, because this filling center has a Greek innovation, certified by the international standards of the Group» said Epaminodas Katoodis, Industrial Director of Group Air Liquide Hellas.

Stefan Neubauer, Southern Eastern Europe Director and Managing Director of the Group Air Liquide Hellas, declared: «Air Liquide Hellas has been developing and investing in its production units, proving its potential to become the center of Air Liquide's operations in the SouthEastern Europe»