IISRP moves annual meeting from Russia to Portugal

HOUSTON—The International Institute of Synthetic Rubber Producers has moved and rescheduled its Annual General Meeting because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The meeting was scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia, from May 16-19. But because of the invasion, the Executive Committee of the Houston-based IISRP decided to hold the group's AGM in Lisbon, Portugal, from Sept. 12-15.

"Together with the rest of the world, we are horrified and saddened by the news of the invasion of Ukraine, and we look forward to a safe return to peace as soon as possible," the association said in a March 7 news release.

The IISRP previously told Rubber News that the "situation between Ukraine and Russia will impact Russian exports of synthetic rubber to the extent of the sanctions imposed on the export of Russian products, bank transfers, transportation, among other factors, and those stipulated in the purchasing policies of each company."

Officials of the association said it was difficult to predict the impact on the global synthetic rubber market because the sector also is "dependent on how the world economy, oil prices, inflation, and synthetic rubber consumption will be impacted by the events in Ukraine."

The IISRP has corporate members in more than 20 countries that collectively produce more than 75 percent of the world's supply of SR.

The association has to cancel its 2020 meeting—scheduled for Bangkok, Thailand—because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which also caused it to hold the AGM in a virtual format in 2021.