Investors have ploughed hundreds of millions of euros into the Russian tyre industry in recent years, of which the largest part has been invested in machinery and equipment. Market leader Harburg-Freudenberger from Hamburg in Germany has been operating its own distribution subsidiary in Moscow since earlier this year. This is responsible for the co-ordination of all activities on the growing Russian tyre market. In particular it is the high performance PC tyre sector where machinery and equipment suppliers see a lack of sophistication on the part of the domestic manufacturers.

“Harburg-Freudenberger was able to preserve its contacts” during the breakdown of the Soviet Union, explains sales director Jens Ritter in an interview with Tyres & Accessories. The traditional German company, which was listed until last year as ThyssenKrupp Elastomertechnik, had good contact with Russian tyre manufacturers and the central Muscovite research institute for the tyre industry decades ago.