How to maintain the printing inks industry and strengthen positions of manufacturers on the domestic market

A panel “Production of printing inks in Russia. Development and competition issues” has taken place within the anniversary Interlakokraska international exhibition held at EXPOCENTRE Fairgrounds.

The event is organised by Centrlack Association and EXPOCENTRE AO, and supported by the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Federal Customs Service of Russia, Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Russian Chemists Union, Federal Agency for Small and Medium Entrepreneurship.

The moderator of the panel, Gennady Averyanov, Director of the Centrlak Association, welcomed the participants. He thanked his colleagues for the great attention paid to such area as printing inks and underlined: "Unfortunately, today the printing inks industry is on the verge of extinction. We are trying to save it because we consider it an important area of the paint industry and help those manufacturers who are still making paint and investing in this area.

The first speaker was Yulia Semina from NIITEKHIM OAO with an overview of the printing inks market in Russia. According to the data presented by the speaker, the structure of printing inks production is dominated by small enterprises, mainly concentrated in the North-West region of the Russian Federation, mostly in the city of St. Petersburg. "Production of printing inks is declining, it has more than halved in the last four years," stated Yulia Semina.

The event was continued by the speech of Viktor Klimko, Director of Gangut AO, the major producer of printing inks. In his presentation he reviewed the issues of development and competition in the industry and drew attention to the most important problems that impede the development of printing inks today. The main of these problems, according to Viktor Klimko, is the ban on the use of ethanol in the production of inks. Anatoly Karpunin, the owner of Gangut AO, joined the discussion. He stressed: "In neighbouring Belarus the production of ethanol is allowed and therefore it is much more profitable to locate the production of printing inks in Belarus than in Russia.

For comments on the ethanol ban, the panel participants turned to Darya Shevyakina, Head of the Chemical Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. She explained the Ministry's position on the issue and spoke about the measures and steps being taken to change the situation for the better.

Gennady Manzhosov, Director of the Department for Work with Entrepreneurs' Associations of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the Chamber of Commerce and Industry was ready to support all proposals of printing inks manufacturers towards cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance. "A monument should be placed to those who strive to save the industry in the current situation," the speaker stressed.

The event was continued by Oleg Podobryansky, Deputy General Director of Pigment PAO (Tambov), Tatiana Grechanaya, Commercial Director of Biochem AO and others.