Swiss Time for Luch New Luch Watches Available from Next March
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4 ECONOMY The Minsk Times Thursday, July 29, 2010 Swiss time for Luch New Luch watches available from next March By Vladimir Bondarev Many believe that Bela- rusian Luch watches have long lagged behind interna- tional trends. The enterprise was created in 1956 from scratch and was well known to Belarusians, who used to qual- BELTA prefer its watches to all oth- ity Luch being restored to former glory with aid from Swiss partner ers. Later, the Minsk firm’s and Their intentions have re- Mr. Sirmakes has visited training in producing new can be tricky. In addition, mechanical models began reli- ability of sulted in the signing of an the Belarusian company mechanisms,” he the new owners are anx- to feel pressure from elec- the Bela- r u s i a n investment agreement by three times, promising to notes. ious about constructing a tronic rivals while the ap- trademark. Swiss Franck Belarus’ Industry Minister, invest over $10m. “In- The Swiss new factory immediately. pearance of mobile phones Muller has long been seek- Alexander Radevich, and vestments are vital in company’s design They do plan to build new significantly reduced sales. ing an enterprise to pro- bureau is devel- facilities, boasting the latest In 2007, the enterprise be- mote its products across the oping some new equipment, at some time in gan filing for bankruptcy, CIS (and within the Cus- Luch is as significant to Belarusians as designs for Luch’s the future. taken under control by a toms Union). According to the brand names of MAZ and BelAZ. In watches and the Franck Muller plans to crisis manager. However, Belarus’ First Deputy Prime the past, this trademark was very famous foremost task is to produce affordable time- the Government didn’t lose Minister, Vladimir Se- and popular, with almost a third of Soviet develop mecha- pieces for the wider popu- hope of restoring Luch to mashko, long-standing ne- citizens wearing a Minsk Luch watch nisms for automatic lation, as well as those with its former glory, seeking an gotiations have enabled the watches and chron- a medium-sized price tag. investment partner from investor and the Belarusian ographs. These will The first batch of Belaru- Europe to China. Government to come to an Vartan Sirmakes, Franck watch manufacture, in still be manufactured sian-Swiss Luch watches Watch trendsetters from agreement and to elaborate Muller’s Managing Director addition to new knowl- at the Minsk factory, will appear on sale in March Berne still remember the a business plan for Luch. and co-owner. edge, experience and staff since shifting equipment 2011. Accent on transit possibilities Draft strategy outlined have prepared proposals, hoping to regarding the electrifi cation of some regarding transit potential attract additional transit fl ow through Belarusian Railway lines (linking development for 2011-2015 Belarus. with Lithuania). Inter-regional trains Th e strategy primarily aims to Pavel Bozhanov heads the Trans- are also to travel at higher speeds in improve transit possibilities, in- port and Communications Ministry’s coming years. creasing Belarus’ income from this Department for Strategic Develop- Th e state programme for Bela- activity. Four directions are envis- ment, Co-ordination and Investments rus’ transit potential development aged: improvement of legislation, of Transport Systems. Speaking of the for 2011-2015 is being studied by the reconstruction and modernisation development and modernisation of Government in autumn. According to of transit infrastructure, develop- transport infrastructure, he notes that Mr. Bozhanov, its realisation should ment of international transit-related the country is to continue building help harmonise Belarusian legislation BELTA co-operation and expansion of com- new roads while modernising already with international norms, while im- Legislation to help revive leasing market munication and fi nancial corridors. existing motorways and enhancing proving transit infrastructure and en- Th e latter is absolutely new for our the quality of roadside services. hancing the quality of transit services. Game rules improved country. Th e Finance Ministry, the Meanwhile, rail development is By 2015, Belarus’ profi ts from transit Ministry of Communications and In- to receive special attention. Talks are should have risen 24 percent. Last By Alexey Benkovsky smaller businesses are using the serv- formatisation and the National Bank underway with Chinese investors year, such profi ts exceeded $2bn. ices of intermediaries when purchas- Leasing legislation ‘polished’ ing technique. by the Government However, the Belarusian Union Optimising logistical f lows Back in the days of the Great De- of Leasing Companies notes that the pression, Henry Ford decided to sell fi nancial lease market is still experi- his cars by using a scheme of pay- encing ‘cloudy’ weather, due to out- By Irina Toporkova ments, delaying the fi nal payment. standing debt; according to prelimi- Clients paid their debts monthly, nary estimates, in 2009, the market Large Hong Kong company which consisted of the cost of the dropped by almost a third. ready to invest in building capital and part of the automobile Nevertheless, export leasing is transport-and-logistics centre cost. Accordingly, he found that he growing, with Belarusian companies near Orsha could keep his manufacturing afl oat, managing to sign contracts worth mil- Th e company is ready to invest in even under conditions of economic lions of US dollars. Recently, Belarus’ building a multimodal international collapse. leasing operator — Promagroleasing transport-and-logistics centre at Or- In Belarus, fi nancial leasing is be- — and Ukrainian Ukragropostach sha Aircraft Repair Plant and has al- BELTA coming a successful mechanism to signed a co-operative agreement. ready offi cially confi rmed its fi nancial Air runway to become part of logistics centre raise sales of industrial production “Th is aims to bring effi cient interac- readiness. “In the near future, we plan er than cargo fl ying via Moscow’s Do- centres in Belarus over the next few — at home and abroad. Recently, na- tion between Belarus and Ukraine, to conclude an investment agreement; modedovo Airport, some can travel years, with 18 as transport-and-logis- tional leasing legislation was updated, creating a competitive fi nancial prod- the draft is being prepared,” explains via Orsha,” Mr. Bozhanov tells us. Or- tics centres. Some are already under with representatives from leasing uct,” explains Promagroleasing. “Th is Pavel Bozhanov, who heads the Trans- sha Aircraft Repair Plant has a runway construction, including the Prilesie companies noting a serious improve- should help enhance the industrial port and Communications Ministry’s dedicated exclusively for planes com- centre built with the help of an Ira- ment, which should aid the promo- potential of Ukraine, while helping Department for Strategic Develop- ing for repair. It’s planned that 100 per- nian company. Organisational mat- tion of Belarusian goods. promote Belarusian manufactures.” ment, Co-ordination and Investments cent capacity will be ensured, with un- ters relating to the project have been Legislative measures have been Th e company plans to set up interna- of Transport Systems. He adds that used land coming into operation. Th e dealt with already, including land al- adopted at the right time; according tional fi nancial leasing for goods sold the joint project with the Hong Kong runway will remain state-owned while location. It is to be one of the major to leasing operators, the leasing mar- by Minsk Automobile Works, BelAZ, company has been approved by the a major terminal (covering about 1m transport-and-logistics centres in Be- ket has begun to gradually revive — Minsk Tractor Works and Gomsel- Government, with only organisational square metres) is to be built nearby. larus. Another large project is planned alongside bank lending. Most trans- mash. Promagroleasing JSC’s Director matters remaining. At the same time, negotiations with a Belgian investor, to be located actions relate to car and industrial General, Pavel Krupnov, tells us that Th e investor suggests that cargoes with a Latvian investor are underway. near Minsk’s National Airport. Th e equipment leasing, although change over $50m of Belarusian goods will be should be transported from China ini- Th e latter is keen to take part in the Regional Executive Committee has is also evident in real estate and agri- dispatched to Ukraine within the next tially. “At present, aircraft travelling to project, alongside an Austrian compa- already decided to allocate land for the cultural equipment areas. Meanwhile, two years as part of this agreement. China are banned from Europe. Rath- ny. Th ere are plans to build 50 logistics new facility..