TIKKURILA PAINTS OPENS PAINT FACTORY IN MOSCOW



The Finnish Tikkurila Paints Oy, a subsidiary of Tikkurila Oy, part of the Kemira Group, will today open its newest paint factory in Ramenskoye, to the south-east of Moscow, Russia. Tikkurila Paints' Russian subsidiary, OOO Kraski Tikkurila, is responsible for the production.

Mr Visa Pekkarinen, President of Tikkurila Paints Oy, says that the new plant is the second paint factory in Russia operating in a Western manner. - We were the first Western manufacturer to open a plant in St Petersburg in 1995. This is one phase in a process aiming at servicing the entire Russian market.

The plant's yearly capacity is several million liters. It will feed the Russian market with both water- and solvent-borne paints, which will be manufactured of local raw materials whenever possible.

The range of Tikkurila Paints products comprises interior and exterior paints, lacquers and stains for DIY painters and professionals alike. In addition to the factories in Vantaa (Finland) and St Petersburg and Moscow (Russia), there are production facilities in Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Italy. The company also has sales units in Sweden, Lithuania, Hungary and the UK.

The Tikkurila Group had net sales of EUR 357,5 million in 1999. Personnel totalled 2,298.