Mastrotto revive tannery

An insolvent tannery, Krasnyi Gigant, based in the Klintsy, in the Briansk region of Russia, resumed work in mid-January having been purchased by the Italian Rino Mastrotto group last summer. This is the first case of direct investment made by a large Western company into a Russian tannery. In August last year, Rino Mastrotto acquired the 100,000 m²ery, which had been standing idle since 1996. In Soviet times, 1,600 people were employed there. After a four year downtime, the enterprise was estimated at $320,000.The Italians will produce chrome tanned leather, mainly for shoe production. According to Dario Lovato, director general of the 'Rino Mastrotto Group CIS', his company have already invested nearly $1 million in the tannery. They have replaced the obsolete equipment and started the primary processing of raw hides. According to Lovato, everything produced in Russia within the next few months will be exported to Italy for producing shoe leather. But in the future, it is proposed to produce the finished shoe leather in Russia.