Working in the Civil Engineering sector in Russia

There are enormous opportunities in Russia’s developing infrastructure over the next few years. The attraction to Tensar is that much of this infrastructure will be over ground which needs stabilisation to ensure it can carry the loads imposed by the traffic and construction. Leading-edge expertise, products and solutions for these requirements have been developed by Tensar and used round the world for over 30 years.

At the same time, Russia has its own civil engineering industry structure and way of doing business which requires understanding and long term commitment. To access this market would not be possible without the ongoing support and numerous initiatives of UKTI, as well as through the British Embassy in Moscow.

Tensar faces continuing challenges in doing business in Russia, such as acceptance of EU design methods for civil engineering structures, intellectual property issues, certification demands by large clients, local producer bias and negotiation tactics. Key to overcoming these has been developing an excellent working relationship with local partners Grand Massar; without the right partners, business is much more difficult.

Also essential has been a long term local presence. From an office of one person in the 1990s, Tensar has expanded to nine people, with bases in Moscow and St Petersburg. Additional to this, Tensar’s dedicated UK-based team makes several visits a year, both to the offices and in the field.

The results over the last four years have repaid the commitment and acceptance of cautious progress Tensar has made since its first entry to the Russian market. A sales growth of 130% since 2007 is the result of involvement with prestige projects such as the Sochi Winter Olympics for 2014, with high level clients and with influential engineering design institutes.

Tensar is very pleased to be able to support UKTI trade initiatives and continue to build on the sound base we have already established in Russia.

For more information on Tensar ground stabilisation solutions, please visit www.tensar.co.uk.