Russia
In a stock exchange release published this morning, Nokian Tyres plc confirms it has completed the sale of its operations in Russia to vertically integrated oil and gas company PJSC Tatneft after finishing local registration formalities. The Finnish company has “now ended all its operations in Russia,” but this doesn’t mean that the Nokian name will immediately disappear from this market.
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?
Drawing upon information from two anonymous sources, Russian newspaper Kommersant has named Moscow-based holding company S8 Capital as a potential purchaser of Continental’s assets in Russia, including its tyre plant in Kaluga. Kommersant shares that S8 Capital, owned by entrepreneur Armen Sargsyan, has already acquired a lift manufacturing facility in St. Petersburg from Otis Worldwide Corporation.
A total of 35.1 million tyres for all powered applications were sold in Russia in 2022, reports daily newspaper Kommersant. This figure represents a year-on-year decrease of 14.9% that disproportionately weighed upon the premium tyre segment. Tyre makers based within the country produced 42.7 million tyres within the year.
With the careful rearrangement of a couple of letters, the Vianor tyre retail network gains a new identity in Russia. Nokian Tyres reports that Russia’s largest network of tyre centres will henceforth operate under the name Ivanor. The new name accompanies a change of ownership, with Tatneft acquiring a 100% stake in Nokian’s Russian business. Rights to the Vianor and N-Tyre trademarks remain with Nokian Tyres.
Nokian Tyres reports that it has received the sale price of 285 million euros from PJSC Tatneft for the sale of its operations in Russia. The total permissible transaction price defined by the Russian Governmental Commission was 23,050 million rubles. Now there are just “registration formalities” before the transaction completes and Nokian Tyres’ operations in Russia therefore end.
PJSC Tatneft reports that the Russian Governmental Commission on Monitoring Foreign Investments has approved Tatneft’s purchase of Nokian Tyres plc’s operations in Russia, a deal that was announced on 28 October 2022. That much was expected, some would say overdue. However, Nokian Tyres reports that Tatneft will only be paying around 286 million euros for company’s high-tech St. Petersburg factory and other local assets.
As the war in Ukraine drags on into its second year, ongoing vehicle usage as well as the kind of tyre failure episodes that have been reported for the last 12 months mean Russian military tyre supply is as stretched as ever. Indeed, some social media videos show Russian military equipment in active service with less than a complete set of tyres.
Roughly a year after Russia invaded Ukraine, tyre problems remain a significant hindrance for the Russian army. 12 months ago we reported on how tyre selection and product quality had resulted in military machinery literally getting stuck in the mud and Russian military tyres failing on certain occasions. Now, further evidence suggests that long-term tyre maintenance as well as tyre supply problems are causing additional bottlenecks.
Toward the end of December 2022, we reported that Tatneft had applied for FAS approval to buy the Nokian Tyres St. Petersburg factory. That deal, which is yet to be completed, centred on “the acquisition of 100 per cent of “Nokian Tyres LLC, Hakka Invest LLC and Nokian Shina LLC from Nokian Tyres” for just over 400 million euros. Around the same time, the Russian national patenting body, Rospatent, reported that Nokian Tyres LLC, which operates Nokian’s Russian tyre for the Finnish tyremaker, had filed applications for the registration of new trademarks.
Despite initially planning to sell its Davydovo, Russia tyre production plant to the factory’s local management, Michelin is now in talks with Moscow-based Power International Shiny LLC. Michelin reportedly hopes to reach an agreement with the new buyers “soon”.
In June 2022, Nokian Tyres was the first tyre manufacturer to use the terms “controlled exit” to describe its withdrawal from operations in Russia. Now, Continental has joined them, with Conti CEO Nikolai Setzer using very similar language as part of the German tyre and automotive supplier’s full-year 2022 financial results presentation.
Titan International, Inc. has reported record turnover and profitability during the 2022 financial year. While the US-based manufacturer of OTR tyres and wheels increased its net sales by 21.9% to US$2.2 billion, income from operations jumped by more than 141% to $205.8, almost doubling the return on sales to 9.5%.
In its most recent quarterly report, US-based off-highway tyre manufacturer Titan International, Inc. reports owning 64.3% of Russian tyre maker Voltyre-Prom, with the Russian Direct Investment Fund the remaining shareholder. Yet this connection with Russia hasn’t stopped Titan raising its voice against indirect imports of Russian petroleum products into the USA. Together with the United Steelworkers union, Titan has even sent a letter to Joe Biden.
Three months after pausing operations in Russia, Michelin issued a press release on 28 June 2022 acknowledging the technical impossibility of resuming operations there. At the time it spoke of transferring control of its operations to local management, and Michelin tells us that the intention was to dispose of its operations in Russia by the end of last year.
NokianTyres.ru
Nokian Tyres
Tatneft
Screenshot; Lucky Flower; YouTube