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RUSSIA
120,000 – 130,000 km and taking into accounts its cost, the price-quality ratio of Russian products is also quite good. Uvenchikov has also recognised some bad impact on the retreading industry in his region from the invasion of cheap Chinese tyres, adding, however, that at some point they will leave the market.
“You see, the cheap tyres from China are not some kind of a miracle. Their price is achieved due to less metal in cord, poor- quality rubber compounds and the curved casings and so on. Chinese tyres have almost no adhesion between the metal cord and the rubber. When you start buffing it, the tyre crumbles, and it is all rotten, as the carcass of the Chinese tyre is very thin”.
“Still, because of the situation with casings on the market we also have to work with Chinese tyres sometimes,” Uvenchikov added.
Nevertheless, the company has a quite clear business strategy for the coming years. It plans to expand its order book, attracting new customers, including from the neighbouring regions. Recycl Tyre also aims to start retreading off-the-road tyres, as this segment also looks quite promising.
And probably the most important thing is to keep improving – Uvenchikov said that he looks for training courses, where he and his colleagues can pick up valuable knowledge of how to improve the quality of retreading services.
From Siberia with Love
The Russian retreading plant of Technoshina has been operating since 2010 in the city of Novosibirsk, in the heart of
Siberia, and in recent years managed to adjust the local market to its needs.
Worldwide, Siberia is well-known primarily for its long harsh winters with the January extremes reaching -40C, especially in its northern parts. With an area of 13.1 million square kilometres, Siberia makes up roughly 10 per cent of the land surface in the world and 77 per cent of the Russian territory.
However, once again because of the extreme weather conditions it is rather poorly populated, with an average density of around one man per 1 square kilometre. Eugene Yadrishnikov, the director of Technoshina, recalled that his company was founded in 2011 as a family business. He has been working together with his parents and his elder brother.
“Everyone has their own tasks within our business. The very idea of opening a retreading plant crossed our mind, when we were just browsing various opportunities. We read about it on the web, gathered some information, went to see equipment and that was it,” Yadrishnikov said.
The conception of the retreading business turned to be very interesting for his family, so in 2010 it purchased all the equipment necessary to launch a retreading line. It took some time for the equipment to get to Novosibirsk and some time to install it, so the line started operating in 2011.
A battle for Siberia
However, soon enough it turned out that the local retreading market was depressed, and the reputation of the retreaded tyres