On 30 October, approximately a month after gaining a new owner, Russian tyre maker JSC Cordiant found itself on a list of US sanctions affecting a total of 275 individuals and entities said to be “involved in supplying Russia with advanced technology and equipment that it desperately needs to support its war machine.”
At the start of July, Russian tyre maker JSC Cordiant announced completing rebranding of the former Continental tyre plant in Kaluga. The facility is now producing Gislaved tyres, thanks to a brand rights deal negotiated with Continental in May 2023. It appears the Gislaved name will also take centre stage when tyre production at the ex-Bridgestone factory in Ulyanovsk restarts.
Tyre maker Cordiant has signed a letter of intent with major Russian polymer and rubber producer Sibur to replace natural rubber with synthetic isoprene rubber in the formulations of various types of tyres. Sibur explains that this joint initiative aims to develop the “technological sovereignty” in Russia’s transport industry by substituting imported natural rubber from Asia-Pacific countries.
The new owner of the former Bridgestone factory in Ulyanovsk, Russia intends to resume tyre manufacturing at the site this year and wants to “reach significant production volumes” in 2025. According to the Ulyanovsk Region Development Corporation, S8 Capital has a first-stage goal of 2 million tyres per annum, which it will subsequently increase to 2.4 million tyres, the plant’s pre-acquisition output. The Ulyanovsk plant has a design capacity of 4.2 million tyres a year.
Russian tyre maker Cordiant JSC, since May 2023 a S8 Capital business, has taken 99.9 per cent of Ulyanovsk-based tyre production business Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing CIS LLC operation under its control. The remaining 0.1 per cent is now managed by S8 Industrial Assets LLC, an affiliate of S8 Capital.
After receiving all regulatory approvals, the sale of Bridgestone’s Russian assets to S8 Capital has been completed. Bridgestone Europe NV/SA has transferred its tyre manufacturing facility in Ulyanovsk and sales and marketing office in Moscow to the investment company. Thus ends a relationship with Russia that began in 1998.
The former Continental tyre factory in Kaluga, Russia is taking on the Gislaved name and will operate under the management of Cordiant Joint Stock Company. Of the three brands the previous owner produced within the Kaluga plant, Gislaved is the only one for which S8 Capital gained usage rights when acquiring Continental’s Russian assets.
With holding company S8 Capital having acquired the assets of Continental AG in Russia, the LLC Continental Kaluga tyre manufacturing facility has been renamed LLC Cordiant Kaluga. The new legal name came into force on 17 August 2023 and the business will in particular be responsible for tyre production at the former Continental plant in Kaluga, some 100 miles southwest of Moscow.
Continental didn’t receive very much for its tyre factory in Russia, and S8 Capital is now one of the country’s top-three tyre makers. The investment company has four tyre brands in its portfolio at the moment, and additional, renamed brands will join these by the end of this year.
The tragedy of war always has repercussions. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February is no exception. With reports of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of people already displaced, the human cost is incalculable. While blood is being spilt in Ukraine at a horrifying rate, this war is being fought on at least three fronts: military, electronic and financial. The human cost of the military dimension is beyond the scope of this publication. Likewise, cyber-warfare is probably a bridge too far (unless we are talking about vehicle cyber security, which is of increasing importance right down to the aftermarket garage level – see pages 16 to 17 of our forthcoming March edition for more on this). The economic cost of the war in Ukraine, however, will have an inevitable impact on European tyre production directly due to conflict and indirectly due to logistics and the impact of sanctions.
Sibur – Russian Tires has announced that is renaming itself. According to the company, the name-change took effect on 3 April 2012 and new full name Joint Stock Company (or JSC) or just Cordiant for short.
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Stephen Goodchild / Tyre Industry Publications Ltd
Jorono; Pixabay