Following a new deal with Ford, the Russian division of transport and logistics provider Ebrex Business Solutions began shipments last Sunday of aftermarket parts from the carmaker's Cologne plant in Germany for distribution to dealerships in Russia.
Ebrex is transporting the parts by truck from Cologne to dealers in the Moscow and St Petersburg region, as well as surrounding dealerships. The company’s Polish division Ebrex Polska is handling the international transport, which will connect with its hub in St Petersburg for cross dock and onward distribution by Ebrex RU.
Ebrex RU will also handle air freight shipments, which will be collected from Ford’s parts distribution centre in Moscow.
A recent dispute over haulage licences between Poland and Russia resulted in a blockade on Polish truck movements into Russia through Belarus, hitting automotive parts and finished vehicle shipments (read more here). A spokesman for Ebrex said that while the company had experienced its own share of problems, the issue of border crossing was now solved.
The company can expect to benefit from revisions to Russia’s tax code which were signed into Federal law in November last year and which took effect in January. Substantial changes have been made to the rules on the application of 0% VAT on work (services) connected with the import of goods, in particular, the forwarding and transportation services. A number of variant readings concerning the application of the legislation by companies which deliver the sort of services Ebrex will be providing have been removed and, to a certain extent, the legislation has cut the tax burden for carriers.
In other news, Ford has announced an agreement with Russian carmaker Sollers toward the launch a new 50:50-owned joint venture called Ford Sollers for the production and distribution of Ford vehicles in Russia. While the details of distribution are not yet clear the proposed joint venture will include Ford and Sollers local production facilities in Vsevolozhsk (St Petersburg region) and in the Republic of Tatarstan, and will manufacture a range of Ford passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.
“We are delighted to be taking this next step for Ford in Russia with our proposed partner, Sollers,” said Stephen Odell, chairman and CEO, Ford of Europe. “This is a great opportunity, and will provide Ford customers in Russia with more products and better service.
The announcement followed closely behind Sollers decision not to run a similar venture with Fiat.
