VORONEZH, Russia—Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. and joint venture partner Russian Technologies have completed a $76 million modernization of their jointly owned Voronezh Tyre Plant complex.
The facility now will begin making Pirelli-brand high-performance tires.
The company installed equipment fully compliant with Pirelli's quality standards to produce rubber compounds necessary for Pirelli performance tires, including winter versions, Pirelli said. The investment covers training of an unspecified number of workers from the Voronezh plant at Pirelli factories in Italy, Germany and Turkey.
Marco Tronchetti Provera, Pirelli chairman and CEO, hosted a launch ceremony this week at the 62-year-old plant. Also in attendance were Dmitry Manturo, Russian minister of Industry and Trade of the, Alexander Gordeev, regional governor of Voronezh, and S.V. Chemesov, Russian Technologies general director.
Tronchetti Provera called the plant a "splendid example of a symbiotic collaboration" involving the Russian authorities, industry and the experience and technology of an international company.
Pirelli and Russian Technologies have committed to investing $60 million more through 2015 to boost capacity to 4 million tires a year and add a logistics center covering both domestic and export shipments.