TIKKURILA ESTABLISHES SALES COMPANY IN KAZAKHSTAN

Tikkurila Oy, which is responsible for Kemira's paints and coatings business, aims at continuous improvement of its market position in the CIS area including the Central Asian countries. Following its strategy, Tikkurila has established a fully-owned sales company TOO Tikkurila in Almaty, Kazakhstan, for marketing decorative paints under the Finnish Tikkurila brand and the Russian Teks brand. In the future, the company will also market Tikkurila's industrial coatings, which are now sold via local distributors only.

Mr NORMUNDS FELDBERGS has been appointed General Director of TOO Tikkurila. He started in the summer of 2005 as Area Sales Manager for Central Asia with the task to develop business in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the areas nearby. At first, sales were handled from the premises of a local dealer, but as the business grew bigger, a sales company was established and premises were rented for this purpose.

The new company will improve customer service and extend the retail network by building up an efficient organisation, setting up a warehouse and starting a local paint school based on the model given by the parent company Tikkurila. The first group of customers to be trained will be paint-shop owners and their assistants. There are currently some ten shops selling Tikkurila's paints in Kazakhstan, and more shops will be opened continuously.

TOO Tikkurila is now already among the biggest paint suppliers in Kazakhstan with its nearly 5% share. The company seeks growth in the rapidly developing Central Asian markets with a potential of 50 million consumers. Due to its natural resources, and especially due to oil, Kazakhstan is the fastest developing country in the area. Paint consumption is still at a very low level (2-3 litres annually per capita), but it will go up as soon as the standard of living improves.

For more information, please contact:

Normunds Feldbergs, General Director, TOO Tikkurila
GSM: +7 701 752 7290 (Almaty), +371 292 75 579 (international)

Janno Paju, Tikkurila Oy, Vice President, Deco Eastern Europe
GSM +372 5330 1721

Igor Lichkaty, Marketing & Sales Director, OOO Kraski Teks
GSM: +7 812 326 95 50

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