News. Ruskon tannery has changed the owner

News
Ruskon tannery has changed the owner

According to the informarion, coming from different sources, controlling stake of the biggest leather producing enterprise in Moscow ZAO Ruskon was purchased by an outside investor. ZAO Ruscon shares were dispersed among the staff, whose profits from the shares were very low. This probably allowed the new owners to buy out the major part of the shares, despite the resistance of the acting leadership. Financial details are not disclosed, but it may be millions of dollars. New owners have already changed the management both at the head enterprise and at the subsidiaries and have made part of the staff take unplanned paid vacation.
It should be noted that ZAO Ruscon is one of the biggest manufacturers of chrome leathers in Russia ( in 2001 the enterprise was second among Russia's manufacturers according to the production output, having produced 122,3 million dm2). Chrome leather for upper and lining of footwear, furniture, car, garment and fancy leathers are manufactured there. Production facilities of the enterprise allow to produce 370 million dm2 annually.
In total volume of production, manufactured by the enterprise, the share of the production, made on a 'giving'
scheme is quite big. The same is true of chrome wet blue, exported to the other countries. Wear of the machinery ( especially the equipment, installed at the head enterprise) is not big according to the Russian standards.
ZAO Ruskon, besides Kuntsevo - head enterprise, includes two other subsidiaries (Moscow raw hides factory and Wet blue factory named after Telman).
Wet blue factory accepts, sorts out and stores raw hides, prepares lots for further processing. Telman
factory processes the received raw hides up to wet blue, which goes to Kuntsevo, where wet blue is processed into finished leather.
ZAO Ruscon subsidiaries are situated practically in the centre of Moscow, and like head enterprise, occupy great territories (everybody knows that land in the centre of Moscow is very expensive). Purification works at Telman factory, where the dirtiest, in the ecological sense, stages of technological cycle, are concentrated, do not conform to the requirements. Water goes to Moskva-river without enough purification. The decision on withdrawal of this enterprise, like the other leather manufacturer, situated nearby - Moskozhzavod, outside the city boundaries was adopted by the city authorities many years ago. The reason of the slowness of Moscow government is quite commonplace - transference of the production facilities to the other territory requires serious financial investments.
According to the factories' staff, the new owner is a building company, inexperienced in leather production.
One can only guess about the future fate of one of the biggest leather manufacturer in Russia - whether
the new owners will develop leather production at the enterprise, in spite of all the accumulated problems, or will prefer to use vast territories and property of the factories for other purposes.
It is known, that some big "Ruskon givers" have already moved their business to Ostashkov, Ryazan and other
regions, where leather factories are situated, which manufacture similar articles.
In case Ruskon stops leather production Moscow will cease to be one of the biggest centres of leather industry in Russia. Two other Moscow tanneries, Moskozhzavod and Moskozhkombinat, produce in rather small quantities.

RLN
03.07.2002

RUSSIAN LEATHERNET