BelRoss, a new Russian/ Belarusian leather footwear joint venture, started operations recently in Nizhny Novgorod in central Russia, according to BISNIS, part of the US Department of Commerce, Washington DC.
Marko, the Belarusian footwear producers, have a 20% stake in the venture, with ZAO Kapital-NN of Nizhny Novgorod owning the remaining 80%. The new venture is equipped with production technology made by Germany’s Ewimex, and cost US$1.7 million to establish.
Initially, it will produce the equivalent of 250,000-300,000 pairs of footwear a year, but this will rise to 350,000-400,000 pairs a year from the end of year. Leather raw materials will be imported from Italy, and from Russia’s Yaroslavl and Ryazan regions. Sales markets include the Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo and Kirov regions, and the republics of Chuvashia and Mordovia.
