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Specialty chemicals group LANXESS AG officially launched today its new, independent sales company in Moscow to manage the company's business in Russia and other countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). OOO LANXESS’s office will be located in The Federation Tower and will primarily be marketing high-performance rubber, chemical and plastic products.
“Our commitment to Russia represents a major step in the long-term growth strategy of our company, especially in the BRIC countries, which already account for about 15 percent of Group sales”, said Axel C. Heitmann, Chairman of the Board of Management.
LANXESS achieved annual sales of roughly 40 million Euro in Russia in 2007 and will initially have in Moscow a team of 30 employees headed by Georges Barbey, General Director of OOO LANXESS. It also opened recently a branch office in Kiev, Ukraine. The company expects Russian and CIS economic growth rates over the next few years to be significantly above that of Western Europe. This growth will be driven by the automotive, tire, agricultural, chemical, construction, and electronic industries, which need the high-quality specialty chemical products that LANXESS produces.
“We see major development potential for us in Russia beyond the current economic crisis, and we aim to consistently expand our market share in the future”, said Werner Breuers, Member of the Board of Management.
New production facility targeted for 2010
In addition to the new sales company, LANXESS’s wholly-owned subsidiary Rhein Chemie plans to set up near the city of Nizhny Novgorod, east of Moscow, a production facility that will produce polymerbound additives and release agents for the rubber processing and tire industry as of mid-2010.
Scientific tie-up with Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS)
LANXESS is close to finalizing a cooperative research agreement with RAS – one of the world’s most distinguished scientific institutions founded over 285 years ago. Both parties aim to actively exchange information on scientific trends and innovative research developments, which will be of mutual benefit.
“This cooperation clearly underlines our company’s long-term approach to the Russian market and will contribute strongly to our innovation-driven product strategy”, said LANXESS’s Breuers.
“We want to present ourselves to the industries in Russia as an innovative, reliable, as well as ecologically-aware partner, and at the same time establish new trends with our technologies, products and services”, said LANXESS’s Barbey. “Our presence in Moscow also means we can now be closer to our customers – an important aspect of success in the chemical industry.”
LANXESS (lanxess.com) is a leader in specialty chemicals with sales in 2007 of EUR 6.61 billion and currently around 15,000 employees in 21 countries. The company is represented at 44 production sites worldwide. The core business of LANXESS is the development, manufacture and sale of plastics, rubber, intermediates and specialty chemicals.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by LANXESS AG management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.
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