IBM Forays in Russia and CIS with 10 New Branches
Tech major IBM (NYSE: IBM) has announced the opening of 10 new branch offices across Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as part of a major initiative to capture regional business growth and increase its presence in the fastest growing markets in the world.
The move is part of an incremental investment of $6 million that IBM will make this year in the Russia and CIS region to expand its operations and increase its footprint to 22 offices.
To strengthen its support for clients and partners, IBM will also double its staff in the Russian regions and CIS countries by the end of 2012. IBM will also strengthen its business partner network across the region to over 4,000 partners this year, says the company.
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“In recent years the business opportunity outside of Moscow has grown substantially and there are strong signs that this will increase in the future,” said Kirill Korniliev, country general manager, IBM Russia & CIS.
“By expanding our branch network and hiring new staff, we are tapping into new growth opportunities and increasing our ability to provide advanced solutions and services to our clients and partners across the region.”
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In Russia, IBM will open new branches in the cities of Voronezh, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara and Krasnodar which have all experienced strong economic growth in recent years.
In Ukraine, IBM will open offices in the cities of Kharkiv and Donetsk, the largest industrial centers in the country. IBM is also looking at extending its presence in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan which have some of the strongest growth rates in the CIS region and where IBM is already present in the cities of Almaty and Tashkent. The announcement was made today, June 19.
Photo courtesy: IBM
IBM certainly took its time to roll out into the Russian provinces. IBM was in Russia during the Soviet era.
No Russian will admit it but Moscow is relatively less important in Russia than London in the UK or Paris in France. Russia is a federal country. 93% of the population live outside Moscow. Public spending follows the population. The private sector is also localized. Business were often privatised as local entities. There are few national chains. The vast size, both population (the world’s 8th most populous country) and the physical size – 11 time zones, also means that markets are fractured and local. IF your business is getting a Belgium sized result from Russia then it is time to look beyond that Moscow distributor you appointed in 1995.