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COVID-19 UPDATE
be an enormous bounce back in economic activity. On the 13th April, Donald Trump pointed to the stability of the stock market and shares riding high on the expectation of a return to business activity.
It may well be that the return to normalisation will see the markets bounce back and perhaps even a period of heightened retail activity as people aim to relieve the restrictions of perhaps two or
three months of lockdown. We cannot know until the doors open again just exactly how the consumers will react. Many businesses will have closed down over the lockdown. Staff will have been on reduced earnings, or benefits for an extended period. In a world where many people are only a paycheque away from the streets, we cannot possibly know for sure what the immediate post lockdown market will be like.
Sergey Yatsina, a co-owner of the company. Despite that, there are no big changes on the market.
“I believe for us, everything is just as before – good time for business,” Yatsina said. “The company has opened its tyre fitting centres to provide services to those [transport companies] we have contracts with”.
Stores remain closed, but basically everything is alright, according to Yatsina. “Manufacturers are raising prices for new tyres, and China is becoming more
quarantine regime in the central part of the country, Tkachenko added.
“We have a rather controversial situation – in terms of production we had to cease supplying goods, but today [on April 7] our production has been put back into operation. We can say that the inquiries about raw materials for tyre repair have started growing,” Tkachenko said.
“We are looking forward to the end of the self-isolation regime,” she added.
Russian Bandag dealer Sto Shin is continuing to serve its customers despite a temporary cessation of production
Retreading Continues in Russia During the Epidemic
In Russia the retreading industry has not been hit hard with the Covid-19 epidemic as the country remains relatively spared from the ravages of Covid-19 thanks to the timely actions the government introduced to protect its citizens from the virus.
As explained Eugene Yadrishnikov, director of the Novosibirsk-based plant Technoshina, the Russian authorities listed tyres as essential goods. This means that the tyre retreader is able to continue operation even during “the non- working month”, announced by the Russian President Vladimir Putin to slow down the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
During the nationwide holidays slated to last until 30 April of 2020, most companies are prescribed to stop operation whilst continuing to pay wages to their employees. There are few exceptions, but it seems the tyre retreading industry is among them now.
Technoshina has finished the construction of its new retreading plant where production was
started two years ago, Yadrishnikov said.
The recent slump in the exchange rate of the Russian ruble, which was provoked by not only the Covid-19, but also major fluctuations on the global oil market, has caused an increase in the production cost of retreads in Russia, and yet the price hike on the new tyre market was bigger, Yadrishnikov added.
“Basically, the situation [on the Russian retreading market] remains complicated. We have done well in the winter season. We are doing a lot of repair of used tyres for sale. We are waiting for the season, and it is about to come, since transport companies [in Russia] are beginning to spare their money even more than earlier,” Yadrishnikov said. Technoshina, which is using only high-quality European raw materials, also has not experienced any problems with supply, according to Yadrishnikov. Nizhniy Novgrod-based company Sto Shin had to temporary stop operations, since there were enough retreads in stock, said
expensive because of the different exchange rate,” he added.
The quarantine measures on the border have extended the time of delivery of raw materials, Yatsina added. “I’ve been notified that now it would take 2 to 3 months to be supplied,” he said. Kurgan-based tyre retreader Zipshina has been also allowed to operate during the nationwide quarantine, according to the company’s marketing director, Artem Gribannov. “Cargo traffic on the Russian highways has been seen down because of the lockdown and so the retreading business was also affected,” he said.
“The tyre tread is not supplied from Estonia now. The border is locked,” Gribannov said. “The plant is operating thanks to repair of the agricultural tyres. There is no a virus that could cancel the sowing campaign”, he added. Retreading companies in Russia remain active, but this largely depends on the region, commented Olga Tkachenko, customer relations manager of the Russian retreading materials manufacturer Rossvik. There are no inquiries coming from the Far Eastern part of the country. To some extent, this could be attributed to the stricter
The company is yet to launch the production of treads, according to Tkachenko. In 2019, Rossvik announced plans to begin manufacturing treads in the course of the next year. The company had already purchased all necessary equipment, Tkachenko said at that time. Small businesses to get state support
Just as many other countries around the world, Russia is about to embark on a comprehensive plan of supporting the national economy amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Basically, the government announced plans to allocate 300 billion rubles ($4.06 billion) to support the national economy. The government also said it was ready to give small and mid-sized businesses a one-quarter extension on paying their taxes, plus temporarily halting audits of small and mid-sized businesses. The government has also proposed an annual installment plan of tax payments for companies in respect of taxes deferred because of the pandemic. More state support measures are promised to be announced in the course of the coming weeks.
Rossvik has now recommenced production
36 Retreading Business