The FINANCIAL — Georgia’s share in the company Bosch’s turnover is one of the smaller ones in the region, but is the highest in the Caucasus.
In the whole region, the company made EUR 16 million turnover in 2012 and out of this number EUR 9 million was from Georgia. The remaining EUR 7 million is divided between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
In monetary numbers Bosch had EUR 1.4 billion sales in 2012. The numbers for the year 2013 are still not summarized but for the whole region Bosch expects between 10-15 percent growth rates, especially if November and December are good.
“The Georgian share in the region is smaller. But we are just beginning,” Gerhard Pfeifer, Bosch President of the Eastern Region, told The FINANCIAL. “The biggest German oak tree starts from the smallest plant. The Georgian “tree” is growing nicely but we cannot compare it to the Russian forest. But compared to its neighbouring countries, Georgia has the best advantages,” he added.
Bosch is represented on the Georgian market in several directions, including Automotive Parts and Accessories, Power Tools for DIY Enthusiasts, Household Appliances, Heating, Cooling and Hot Water. The official dealer of household appliances is Elit Electronics. As for automotive parts and accessories, the company has two partners – Tegeta Motors and Iberia Techno Automotive.
As the share of fake production on the Georgian market is large, Bosch Georgia cooperates with the Border Protection Department to protect Georgia from fake production. “Automotive parts and accessories constitute the majority of imported fake production in Georgia,” said Nino Pruidze, Bosch Georgia Director. “From now on all Bosch production imported in Georgia will be registered by our company. So fake production will no longer be able to be sold here. A proper law will enter into force from the end of November and we will see significant results from this in the first quarter of 2014,” she added.
Gerhard Pfeifer is very optimistic about the year 2013. “After 43 percent growth in 2011 and an 18 percent growth rate in 2012 we will also achieve a doubled growth rate this year. With this number Bosch is far above the growth which Bosch expects with its worldwide bases. Bosch growth is projected to be between 2-4 percent for the whole year and the reason for that is still the economic slowdown in Western European countries. All business units of Bosch enjoy good growth in our region, especially power tools with growth of 20-30 percent and Bosch thermo technology for heating systems and the Bosch auto market. All other business units are above 10 percent growth this year,” he said.
Q. Which were the largest investments that the Bosch company implemented in the region?
A. The first large investment was a new washing machine factory which we oepened last year in June in St Petersburg. 500 thousand washing machines are produced in that new factory every year.
The second large investment which we are just finishing now is a new headquarters for our activities which is being constructed in the northern part of Moscow. Bosch is investing EUR 120 million in the building of this new headquarters. That is also relevant for Georgia as this is the regional headquarters covering Georgia as well.
And the third large investment is building two new factories in Saratov and Samara. In Engels, Saratov, we are building a factory for domestic and industrial boilers. As for Samara the new factory will produce solely automotive equipment. About EUR 60 million will be invested in Samara by 2018 and we will create about 500-600 workplaces.
These are the biggest investments that Bosch is doing outside of Germany.
Despite the slowing down of the overall economy we are enjoying very nice growth rates in Georgia. Even if the GDP growth drops from 5 to 3 percent we are able to realize growth rates of between 30-40 percent. We believe that the success story that is our work in Georgia will continue.
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