POST OF ORIGIN: YEKATERINBURG
DATE OF REPORT: 013100
AUTHOR: ALEKSANDR DEYANOV
International copyright, U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service and the U.S. Department of State, 2000. All rights reserved outside of the United States.
1. Summary.
This report provides information on the opportunities existing for U.S. businessmen in the plastic windows market in the city of Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Oblast. End summary.
2. The market of plastic door and window units is one of the youngest in Sverdlovsk Oblast. Harsh climatic conditions require high standards for durability and strength. Before the financial crisis of August 1998 many companies were importing expensive products from Germany, Belgium, and the United States. After the crisis only a few customers could afford high-quality imports. Naturally suppliers of construction materials began to look at cheaper products from Turkey, Poland, and South East Asia. Unfortunately for their customers, quality standards of these items proved to be inferior. Window frames proved to be prone to warping and cracking due to winter colds and sharp temperature drops. Another important feature for a Russian customer is noise protection. Practically all corporate and individual clients demand two to three-layer glass package. Finnish wooden window frames have become too costly for an average Russian family to afford, and fiberglass windows supplied by the Canadian company Inline Fiberglass Ltd are merely a novelty in the local market. All this has contributed to the increasing popularity of plastic window frames.
3. Local companies were fast to react to the changing post-crisis market and the decreased buying capacity of the population. Such companies as Window Plus, Systemtronic, Sivial, Stil, and Plastmarket have purchased foreign manufacturing lines and began producing window packages using imported and domestic components. Use of domestic components and cheap labor has resulted in decreasing plastic window prices in dollar equivalent by 20 - 30 percent. Other companies are still buying Western windows and trying to adjust them to local conditions. The share of imported parts is still very high. All Russian window-makers have to import locks, hinges and handles. As a rule, they offer their clients windows on a turnkey basis. Normally it takes 5-6 days to refurbish an apartment with new windows including measurement, manufacture and installation. Local companies also offer accessories such as anti-mosquito nets, bulletproof glass, Venetian blinds, and different types of shutters.
4. Foreign competition is mostly represented by German, Belgian, and Finnish companies. Rehau, KBE, VEKA, and Deceuninck are among the strongest in Sverdlovsk Oblast. The U.S. company LaserLite is also present and specializes mostly in Venetian blinds.
U.S. exporters may try to penetrate the plastic windows market of Sverdlovsk Oblast by supplying glass (especially of the Triplex type), locks, and hinges. The current demand in glass covered surfaces in Sverdlovsk Oblast is estimated at 50,000 square meters annually.
5. Contact Information
Ilya Shakhmin
General Director
Window Plus
Artinskaya Str., 4, Office 407
Yekaterinburg 620017
Tel: (3432) 390-987
Fax: (3432) 390-986
Aleksandr Schulmeister
General Director
Systemtronic
Pervomayskaya Str., 104, Office 306
Yekaterinburg 620049
Tel: (3432) 751-616
Fax: (3432) 752-991
Segey Kurlakov
General Director
Sivial
Kosmonavtov Pr., 18, Korp 54, Office 59
Yekaterinburg 620017
Tel: (3432) 395-913
Fax: (3432) 348-898
Igor Anokhin
General Director
Stil
D. Ibarruri Str., 2A
Yekaterinburg 620028
Tel: (3432) 424-220
Fax: (3432) 464-998
The U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service Yekaterinburg is offering to U.S. companies that want to sell U.S. equipment in the Russian market its services aimed at generating export sales, including identifying distributors and arranging meetings with prospective buyers during business visits to Russia. For more information on FCS Yekaterinburg services or investment opportunities in Russia, U.S. exporters may visit the BISNIS site at: www.bisnis.doc.gov or contact:
Aleksandr Deyanov
Commercial Assistant
U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service Yekaterinburg
15 Gogolya Str.,
Yekaterinburg,
Russia 620000
Tel: 7-3432-56-47-36
Fax: 7-3432-56-45-15
E-Mail: Alexander.Deyanov@mail.doc.gov