SCHOTT Opens First Manufacturing Site in Russia

10-01-2007: The technology company SCHOTT AG, based in Germany, officially opened its first manufacturing site in Russia together with its Belgian joint venture partner AGC Flat Glass Europe. SCHOTT Flat Glass Russia processes flat glass for international and local manufacturers of ovens and refrigerators in Russia and the Baltic States. The manufacturing site is located in Bor, near Russia's fourth largest city Nizhny Novgorod.

The facility currently employees 70 skilled workers for the cutting, grinding, drilling, screen printing and thermal toughening of soda-lime glass. By the end of 2008, the number of employees is expected to reach 100 to meet growing regional demand. "SCHOTT Flat Glass Russia is the only manufacturer in Russia to exclusively serve the home appliance industry, thus focusing all of its activities on this clearly defined market segment", said Alexander Shchukin, General Director SCHOTT Flat Glass Russia.

Currently, the Eastern European and C.I.S. markets for home appliances are the fastest growing markets worldwide, as incomes rise and old appliances are replaced. In Russia alone, over half of all refrigerators and ovens are over twelve years old. In the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), over five million refrigerators and three million ovens are manufactured annually.