Gleb Belavin on MLP Management Company’s participation in AutoEvolution 2017, the VIII International Forum on developing the automotive industry

AutoEvolution 2017, the VIII International Forum on developing the automotive industry, was held in Kaluga on September 14-15.

For the first time, the AutoEvolution Forum focused not only on developing automobile and auto components manufacturing in Russia, but also on Russia's export potential, infrastructure projects, and developing logistics hubs.

The plenary session on the first day of the forum entitled "Effective regional development: economic aspects, outlooks, strategies" was attended by: Governor of the Kaluga region Anatoly Artamonov, General Director of the Russian Export Center Peter Fradkov, Governor of the Ryazan region Nikolay Lyubimov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Transportation and Construction Yevgeny Moskvichev, Director of the Volkswagen Group RUS plant Dr. Oliver Grunberg, Director General of Continental Kaluga Georgy Rotov, Chairman of the Republic of Tatarstan’s Board of Engineering Cluster Sergey Maiorov, and head of the Samara region’s automotive cluster  Andrey Krainov. During the discussion, comments were made on the increase in car and automobile components manufacturing by 42% thanks to exporting. In addition, the participants discussed possibilities for business cooperation at the regional level and scenarios for developing the Russian automobile industry.

A series of activities on the second day was devoted to, among other things, infrastructure development. In his presentation at the session "Investing in infrastructure: how to attract and increase it?", Deputy Director General Gleb Belavin noted that MLP Management Company’s participation in this meaningful sphere, which is so important for the government and for developing Russia’s automotive industry, is not a coincidence. Companies in this sector have always made up part of MLP’s tenants. Over the past 5-9 years, they have made up 7-8% of the company’s tenant portfolio. But in the second half of 2016, we noticed massive interest from companies in this segment. As a result, we conducted a number of transactions with a total area of 100,000 sq. m. It should be said that over the past year, our team completed transactions for a total area of 360,000 sq. m., and transactions with companies from the automotive industry amounted to 27%, i.e. almost a third. There are contracts with major international manufacturers among our important transactions, such as: Bridgestone, which rented 32,000 sq.m. in the warehouse complex Severnoe Domodedovo, Yokohama company, which rented 11,000 sq.m. in the Nikolskoe warehouse complex, the largest distributor of spare parts for domestic and foreign cars, Armtek signed a contract for more than 28,000 sq. m. in the Nikolskoe warehouse complex, a Swedish spring manufacturer, the company Lesjöfors, recently also became a tenant at the warehouse complex Podolsk. As a result, this segment of our tenants has increased over the past year relative to the previous year by more than 67%... We continue to see interest from companies of this segment, with inquiries from companies directly and through other companies as consultants...

Transactions from this year as well as previous years have encouraged us to believe that we can develop the presence of this segment in our storage facilities. Moreover, years of experience with leading companies in the field of automotive and spare parts, such as Mercedes, Volvo, Caterpillar, Peugeot etc. have helped us understand the specific storage needs of companies in this segment... We decided to offer storage facilities to a wider range of participants in this market. We are currently negotiating with several major companies from this sector and understand that we made the right decision. This is due primarily to the fact that we understand the challenges and complexities of storing goods for this sector, we understand their "specific" nuances... And customers, in turn, enjoy speaking the same language with their future landlord... And that dialogue is fated for success.