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LATVIA
Riepneks focuses on OTR retreading
centimetres to 2 metres.
We are repairing the tyres that we are physically able to repair. In terms of any larger sizes, in general, it is possible for us to start working with them as well. However, it requires some other equipment. We have some thoughts on that, but it is too early to say anything right now,” Kokins stated.
Raw materials issue
He also explained, that specialisation in OTR retreading has both advantages and disadvantages. An advantage, of course, is the fact that the company has its own niche, as nobody else works with tyres of the same size in Latvia. In general, in the Baltic region, there is only one other firm in Estonia with a similar area of interests.
“At the same time, the main complication of our business is that we need a huge range of raw materials and treads,” he added. “However, Riepneks is a joint Latvian-Finnish venture, and we have a partner in Finland who manages the supply of raw
materials for our facility. This makes things easy for us, but raw materials are not cheap. We previously worked with the Jaroslavl Tyre Plant and after that for some time with a Ukraine supplier, but ultimately we had to refuse this cooperation.”
He estimates that in 1994 his facility was purchasing rubber at the price of RUB 0.27 per kg (US$ 1.5, giving the exchange rate of 1994), while today the price is standing at EUR 3.62 per kg. However, he says there is no point in the company working with Russian suppliers of raw materials, simply because the quality of production is unstable. “We have rubber from England. It is expensive, but we can be sure about the quality. When we were working with Jaroslavl Tyre Plant and the Ukrainian supplier, things were quite different. You can arrive there, purchase production, but when you make the second order, the price
could be quite different. In addition, there were customs complications, the ruble devaluation and the other similar things which complicated the process,” Kokins said.