February/March 2006
Monthly News Report
Submitted by Roman Vvedensky, BISNIS
representative in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
The report summarizes commercial, political and
business development news in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Republic of Tatarstan,
and Chuvash Republic for late January, February, and mid-March 2006. The
information is received from the Russian news agencies (INTERFAX, NTA),
TATAR-INFORM.RU, INTERTAT.RU, REGNUM.RU, REGIONS.RU, regional periodicals, PR
departments, and web-cites of the regional governments and local companies.
The report highlights:
Nizhny Novgorod Region:
·
BISNIS assists US
Ambassador’s visit to Nizhny Novgorod
·
Onduline Group plans US$ 20 million investment in construction plant
·
Russian-Belarus
automotive project launched in Nizhny Novgorod
·
GAZ automotive
company consolidates assets for US$ one billion investment
·
Volga paper mill
announces $23 million contract with Wellons Inc. on recycling equipment
·
Stora Enso to
invest €35 million in its project expansion in the region
Republic of Tatarstan:
·
BISNIS assists US
official mission to Tatarstan
·
Efes Breweries
International N.V. acquires 92.34% stake in Krasny Vostok brewery
·
Nefaz bus company
signs MOU with Dutch VDL
·
BISNIS arranges
US electronic hardware mission to Tatarstan and Chuvashia
BISNIS assists US Ambassador’s
mission to Nizhny Novgorod
Local office of BISNIS assisted to arrange the US Ambassador’s mission
to Nizhny Novgorod on January 23-24.
The US Ambassador in Russia William J. Burns ran
negotiations with local officials, including the Mayor of Nizhny Novgorod, and
the Russian President’s Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Volga Federal District. He also
met with students of the Nizhny Novgorod State University, and US government
program participants at the Nizhny Novgorod American Center (which recently
celebrated its 11th anniversary).
The US Ambassador’s mission visited the Nizhny
Novgorod subsidiary of Lear Corp for a factory tour and a presentation of Lear
projects in the automotive sector in Russia.
Onduline Group plans US$ 20 million investment in construction plant
Onduline Group, France, plans to invest US$ 20
million in its plant in Nizhny Novgorod, which will produce asphalt roofing
materials. The new plant will be allocated in a former production department of
GAZ automotive company.
Onduline Group is a leading producer of pulp
and asphalt roofing materials and transparent roofing materials.
Russian-Belarus automotive
project launched in Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod holding company Samotlor-NN will assemble MAZ-103 buses
with chassis and components, shipped from MAZ automotive company, Minsk,
Byelorussia. The passenger capacity of MAZ-103 bus is 110 people. The company
plans to assemble 400 buses in 2006. The price of one bus is set at approx.
US$101,000.
Samotlor-NN invested US$ 19 million, and MAZ – US$ 21 million in the bus
assemble project in Nizhny Novgorod region.
GAZ automotive company consolidates assets for
US$ one billion investment
GAZ automotive company
consolidated assets of six other automotive plants, previously owned by
RusPromAvto holding group, the major shareholder of GAZ. According to GAZ management,
the strategic development plan of the company provides for US$ one billion
investment in automotive production in 2006-2011.
In 2006, GAZ plans to
produce 223,000 vehicles, which includes 51,000 cars, and 24,000 medium trucks.
GAZ also plans to export 55,000 vehicles.
Volga paper mill announces $23 million contract
with Wellons Inc. on recycling equipment
Volga paper mill,
located 25 miles to the west of Nizhny Novgorod, signed $23 million agreement
with Wellons Inc., OR, to ship, to install, and to launch the biomass boiler
complex within the next 20 months.
The local company
plans to apply the U.S. equipment for recycling of remaining bark and pulp. The
waste will be graded before further combustion in the boiler and kiln complex
to produce steam for industrial purposes of the company.
Stora Enso to invest €35 million in its project
expansion in the region
The Scandinavian
company Stora Enso plans to invest additionally €35 million in its subsidiary
company in Arzamas, Nizhny Novgorod region, within a year.
The subsidiary is to
double the output of fluted paperboard to achieve the capacity of 753.5 square
feet of fluted paperboard per year.
BISNIS assists US official
mission to Tatarstan
BISNIS assisted to the preparation of a round table of the US Ambassador
to Russia Mr. William Burns with reps of the leading Tatarstan’s companies,
arranged in Kazan on February 7. The event, hold at the local Chamber of
Commerce, was also attended by Tatarstan’s senior officials. The leaders of
Tatar corporate sector referred to the existing US-Russian business projects in
the region i.e. joint ventures in crude oil development and automotive sectors,
the US Ex-Im Bank credit lines, opened to local financial institutions and
companies. The Tatar officials and businessmen also commented on potential
improvements in bilateral economic relations and new opportunities for
US-Russian economic cooperation in Tatarstan i.e. techno-park,
telecommunications and petrochemical industry. The list of local speakers
included senior managers of local companies: Tatneft (petrochemical), Kazan GTS
(telecom), Kazan helicopter company, Elemte financial company, and Spurt-Bank.
Efes Breweries International N.V.
acquires 92.34% stake in Krasny Vostok brewery
The Turkish company Efes Breweries International N.V. concluded
agreement on acquisition of 92.34% stake in Krasny Vostok brewery, Tatarstan.
The deal is estimated at US$ 390 million.
Krasny Vostok is one of the leading Russian beer producers with an
annual production capacity of 264.2 million gallons of beer. The company owns
two breweries (one – in Kazan, and one – in Novosibirsk), and three malt-houses
in Kazan, the capital city of Tatarstan.
Efes Breweries International N.V. owns 9 breweries and two malt houses
in Russia, Kazakhstan, Romania, Moldova and Serbia with the total production
capacity of 317 million gallons of bear per year. The annual production
capacity of the Turkish company has totaled 203.4 million gallons of beer in
Russia till recently.
Nefaz bus company signs MOU with
Dutch VDL
Nefaz bus manufacturing company, a subsidiary of KAMAZ, signed MOU with
VDL, the Dutch producer of busses and bus chassis, on supply of VDL 49-foot
3-axle chassis to Tatarstan.
The local company plans to produce city buses with VDL chassis. The two
companies expressed interest for further cooperation, including supplies of DAF
motors for mounting on VDL chassis, and production of a new model of an
inter-city coach.
The holding group VDL includes 67 companies in 16 countries.
BISNIS arranges US electronic
hardware mission to Tatarstan and Chuvashia
On February 6-8, BISNIS arranged the mission of reps of Jabil Circuit
Inc., FL, to Kazan and Cheboksary, the capital cities of Tatarstan and Chuvash
republic respectively. The mission’s agenda included a presentation at the
Tatarstan’s Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Cooperation, a round-table
with Tatar electronic hardware companies, one-on-one meetings, and a visit to
the ICL-Fujitsu, the software and hardware leader of Tatarstan.
The Chuvash agenda of the mission included negotiations at the Ministry
for Industry of the Chuvash Republic, a field visit and negotiations at Elara,
the local leader in electronic hardware, and business meetings with other
Russian and foreign companies, equipped with modern surface mounting machinery
and presented locally: ZEiM-Line, RusEl (Russian Electronics), and ABB
Automation Ltd.
The mission of Jabil Circuit met with representatives of electronic
companies of the Upper and Middle Volga region in view of its potential
investment project in Russia.