At first sight it is difficult to tell whether the Tires & Rubber show, held for the ninth time in Moscow recently, is a show for the industry or the trade. Compared with the number of new tyre manufacturers, material suppliers, machinery and equipment providers, the tyre trade seems to have gained some ground at this year’s show compared to 2005. This statement applies to Russian as well as European companies.

For example this year Dutch company Van den Ban Autobanden was exhibiting in Moscow for the very first time. The goal was to introduce the company and sound out the market. “First we want to present ourselves here,” explains commercial manager Cyril Versteeg in an interview with Tyres & Accessories. In fact, there have been business contacts with Russian companies in the past but Van den Ban concentrated mainly on the Eastern markets of the recently enlarged European Union. “These markets are more accessible,” Versteeg adds. At Van den Ban’s headquarter in Hellevoetsluis there are sales personnel that speak all the local languages of these markets, he adds.