July 08, 2008

Peter Dosch
Inorganic Materials
Phone: 	+49 69 218 3374
Fax:	+49 69 218 63374
peter. dosch@evonik.com

Evonik Degussa GmbH
Weißfrauenstraße 9
60287 Frankfurt am Main
Phone 	+49 69 218-01
Fax 	+49 69 218-3118
www.evonik.com

Chairman of the Supervisory Board
Dr. Werner Müller
Management Board
Dr. Klaus Engel (Chairman), 
Dr. Alfred Oberholz (dep.chm.),
Ralf Blauth, 
Heinz-Joachim Wagner, 
Patrik Wohlhauser

Registered office: Essen
Local Court: Essen
Commercial Register B 20227

Thermal Black Project in Russia

Evonik’s Inorganic Materials Business Unit and the Russian Synttech Group are assessing the possibility of a cooperation.

Both parties are considering working together to manufacture Thermal Blacks. On June 30, 2008 representatives from both companies signed a Letter of Intent in Frankfurt, Germany. In the coming weeks they will jointly examine the financial and technical feasibility of such a relationship.

The Synttech Group acquired the exploitation rights of a gas field near Inta, a city in the Republic of Komi, which is located in the northeastern corner of European Russia. Together with Evonik the intention is to build and operate a plant with a capacity in the range of 20,000 metric tons per year using natural gas to produce Thermal Blacks. It is also intended that both companies would jointly be responsible for marketing and sales efforts.

According to Thomas Hermann, the President of Evonik’s Inorganic Materials Business Unit, “the planned cooperation with Synttech takes into account the fast growing Eastern European economy, especially in Russia”. Thermal Blacks, manufactured with Evonik’s Technology, are primarily used by the Rubber Industry for the manufacturing of Mechanical Rubber Goods.

Company information
Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2007 about 43,000 employees generated sales of about €14.4 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of more than €1.3 billion.

Disclaimer
In so far as forecasts or expectations are expressed in this press release or where our statements concern the future, these forecasts, expectations or statements may involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may vary, depending on changes in the operating environment. Neither Evonik Industries AG nor its group companies assume an obligation to update the forecasts, expectations or statements contained in this release.