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MOSCOW TIRES & RUBBER
Suppliers of Retreading Technology Confident about the Prospects of the Russian Market
Russian Tyre and Rubber Expo take place in the hear of Moscow – Expocentre
Despite some serious challenges over recent years, Russia still remains very promising for suppliers of equipment, raw materials and technologies for the retreading industry, say representatives of the international companies at Moscow’s recent Tyre and Rubber Expo. Roman Renz, the sales manager of Troester Gmbh in particular stated that his company is developing the retreading segment in Russia among a number of other businesses and recently has succeeded with two
contracts for the supplying of equipment to customers in Tolyati and Novocherkask.
“We are really interested in the Russian market. It is a huge market, is very interesting, and we have number of very promising projects here,” he stated.
Davide Dondena, managing director of Saspol Technology is of a similar opinion. He explained that his company has been working in Russia for about 20 years, and during this period the market has experienced
both good and bad times, but long- term prospects have always remained bright.
“Last year the market was weak due to the falling ruble, but today I saw in the TV and in various magazines that the general situation in the economy is showing signs of stabilisation, and we are confident that tomorrow we will see the increase of the country’s demand and it will continue to improve in the future,” he explained.
“In terms of the retreading machinery we see great potential in Russia. The economic crisis in fact is currently taking place not only in Russia, but in fact everywhere, so it is putting obstacles in the path of the development of business,” explained Július Pohanka, sales manager for the European region of Chinese supplier Mesnac.
“Despite this, we are confident that the retreading industry in Russia will continue to develop, as we are already today seeing rising interest, including from the small companies, for the purchase of technologies for the retreading of used tyres, as well from tyre producers and transport companies, which are also starting to
explore this type of activity,” he added.
Challenges and opportunities
At the same time, Roman Renz says that the sanctions war between Russian and western countries has negatively affected the psychology of potential customers, as some of them show some signs of consumer patriotism.
“Actually it is little bit more difficult to make business in Russia now, because it is a matter of politics. German companies have a good status in Russia and we have had mostly good experience with customers in this country over recent years. However, in the past we have also had some companies which showed high levels of liability, so to make business with these companies for German suppliers is a little bit dangerous now,” Renz suggested. “However, we believe that in terms of the retreading industry we may find some further growth points among some German and other European companies, which are making business in Russia. We know about the plans of several investors for the