Tatneft will sell some Nokian Tyres in certain markets

Visit NokianTyres.ru today and you will be greeted with the following message: “All Nokian Tyres operations in Russia have ended. For guarantee services and other product information please visit www.vsevtyres.ru.” Browse over to vsevtyres.ru and you will find a page that looks identical to the former Nokian Tyres site. This development follows the sale of Nokian Tyres’s Russian operations to Tatneft and the rebranding of Nokian Tyres’s Vianor tyre retail business as Ivanor in Russia. So who is selling Nokian brand tyres in Russia and Russia-speaking markets? Is it Nokian Tyres or Tatneft?

Tyres & Accessories asked Nokian Tyres officials those very questions and received this statement in response: “The sale of Nokian Tyres operations in Russia to Tatneft is waiting for final registration formalities in Russia. After this all Nokian Tyres operations in Russia have ended. After the deal has been closed, the new owner has the right to sell the remaining Nokian Tyres branded tyres in the warehouse.”

In other words, Tatneft will be able to sell already manufactured Nokian-branded tyres. Since the St Petersburg factory was producing up to 82 per cent of Nokian’s total tyre output prior to its closure and since some tyres will also be in the former Vianor now Ivanor domestic market distribution chain, this won’t be an insignificant number of tyres.

The NokianTyres.ru announcement also referred to “guarantee services”. So, who is responsible for after-sales care for existing Nokian Tyres customers in Russia and Russian-speaking markets moving forward, Nokian Tyres or Tatneft? “The buyer”, the official sources replied, which – simply put – means Tatneft.

So, thus far we have learnt that Tatneft has the right to sell existing stocks of Nokian-branded tyres and for after-sales care for existing Nokian Tyres customers in Russia and Russian-speaking markets.

With such a strong position on both those points, the next most obvious question is: Does Tatneft have any right to market or sell Nokian Tyres? On that point, Nokian Tyres officials simply reiterated that “the new owner has the right to sell the remaining Nokian Tyres branded tyres in the warehouse.”

What about the missing moulds?

In January, Nokian Tyres officials confirmed that a significant number of its moulds were stuck in the St Petersburg function. That’s still true and the latest update is that “due to the Russian counter sanctions, [Nokian Tyres] have not been able to move any equipment from Russia. The new owner will continue the production of passenger car tyres but not under the Nokian Tyres brand.”

That appears to rule out the new production of any Nokian Tyres products by Tatneft, but since Tatneft has now paid for the ex-Nokian Tyres car tyre factory and still has Nokian Tyres-owned moulds in situ, does Tatneft have any right to produce any Nokian Tyres group brand tyres? If so, which and under what conditions?

The short answer is yes: “Tatneft will have a license to continue the production of Nordman branded tyres in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU)”, the official line reveals. Specifically, this means that after existing stocks of Nokian Tyres-brand products are depleted, Tatneft will be able to sell Nordman-branded in the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic as well as the Russian Federation. It is not immediately clear if this reference to Nordman tyres relates to Nokian’s existing range of Nokian Nordman winter tyres (such as the Nokian Nordman 8 SUV studded tyres that were announced in January 2021) or a parallel product range.

In summary, Tatneft will indeed be able to sell some Nokian Tyres products once the sale of the ex-Nokian Tyres St Petersburg factory is complete. The deal centres on selling out existing stocks of already-produced Nokian Tyres-branded products and providing after-sales support to existing Nokian Tyres customers – presumably via the recently rebranded Ivanor retail business. In addition, Tatneft has the right to continue selling Nordman-branded tyres in Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Of course, Tatneft will also be able to produce its own brands of tyres. And who knows what will become of the existing Nokian Tyres moulds that remain stuck in Russia?