New Bandag dealership opens in Ussuriysk

The Vladivostok-based Vostokshintorg group of companies recently opened the very first Bandag Dealership in this distant part of Russia, a virgin market for retreaded tyres.

Although Russia is often thought of as a European country, it also has Asian roots. The Russian Far East, more than 9,000 km to the east of Moscow, extends from Siberia to the Pacific. The city of Vladivostok, on the Pacific coast, is less than 100 km from the Chinese border, and only the Sea of Japan separates it from the main Japanese island of Honshu. Oil, gas, fishing, mining, forestry and four major ports combine with foreign economic ties to make the region one of the most dynamic in Russia.

The vital importance of transportation to the local economy led to the formation in 1999 of Vostokshintorg, a rapidly developing Russian group of companies in the automotive sector.

Vostokshintorg’s activities include the distribution of car and truck tyres. The group’s outlets sell both imported and local tyre brands, and it already has three branches in Vladivostok, two in Ussuriysk and one in Khabarovsk, Novosibirsk and Moscow.

Vostokshintorg’s General Director, Tsarev Dmitry Valeryevich, was fully aware of the new challenges created by development of the region. His ten years’ experience in the tyre business and thorough knowledge of local fleets enabled him to understand the market’s increasing demand for better tyre reliability and lower operating costs.

Retreading – the quality alternative

Vostokshintorg decided to offer a high-quality, cost-reducing alternative to the local tradition of buying second-hand tyres in Japan: top-quality tyre retreading. The company decided to open a Bandag Dealership to help its customers improve their chances of success. Its decision was facilitated by the added value that Bandag brings to its franchised
Dealer network.

Vostokshintorg is convinced that Bandag retreads are the perfect answer to the needs of the
fleets in the region. The sometimes-harsh climate, difficult road conditions and enormous transport distances are matched by the proven reliability, durability and road performance of Bandag retreads.
Bandag tyre products also improve Far Eastern Russian fleets’ uptime by avoiding roadside breakdowns and offering at least the same, worry-free mileage as top-quality new tyres – for a fraction of the cost.

Strategic location

The new Bandag shop is strategically located in Ussuriysk, near the highway linking Vladivostok with Khabarovsk, the largest Russian city east of Lake Baikal. Ussuriysk is a city of 160,000 inhabitants, a coal-mining centre and a junction of the Trans-Siberian railway.

Intensive training, both onsite and in the Bandag European Training Centre near Brussels, familiarised employees of the Vostokshintorg Ussuriysk plant with Bandag’s high-quality standards and technology, including the Bandag NDI® Casing Analyser. This ultrasonic tyre casing scanner detects flaws invisible to the eye, ensuring maximum tyre reliability on the road. Moreover, it guarantees that only perfectly sound casings are retreaded for a second or third long life.

The Bandag Dealership considerably widens Vostokshintorg’s product and service offering.
In addition to new tyres, the company now offers an extensive range of Bandag Products, Services, Information and Programmes (PSIP). This brings fleets in the Vladivostok region an overall reduction in their tyre management burden and related overhead costs – a real revolution in this area, where tubed tyres are still widespread.