Elevators rushed down – Newspaper Kommersant No. 21 (7466) dated 02/06/2023

A sharp decline last year in the pace of housing construction and commercial real estate led to a drop in the production of elevators in Russia by a third. In turn, the regional authorities have reduced purchases of such equipment due to rising prices for it and a decrease in funding. Experts do not expect the situation to change this year. At best, the industry will be able to return to pre-crisis indicators not earlier than 2024.

In 2022, the production of elevators in Russia decreased by 30% year-on-year, to 21.6 thousand units, and only nine units were produced, which is 65% less than in 2021, follows from the operational data of Rosstat. The most serious reduction – by 84% – was recorded in the Far East, in Siberia – by 47%, in the north-west of the country – by 44%, in the central part – by 27%, in the North Caucasus – by 25%, in the Volga region – by 14%. Only in the Urals there was a three-fold increase in production.

In the first half of 2022, the decline in elevator production was more significant – by 40% year-on-year. Then the work of enterprises was affected by the negative situation in the economy, including in the construction industry, explains the director of the department of estimated pricing of the Granel Group of Companies, Elena Mironova. According to her, the start of some development projects was postponed, but already in the second half of 2022 the situation began to change somewhat.

In 2022, developers really slowed down the launch of new projects on the market. According to Kommersant’s calculations based on data from the Nash.Dom.RF unified housing construction information system, by the end of 2022, the total area of ​​new buildings under construction in the Moscow region amounted to 8.3 million square meters. m, which is less by 13.5% year-on-year and by 14.4% compared to 2020. A noticeable decrease was also recorded in St. Petersburg, where in 2022 7.9 million square meters were built. m, which is 16% less than in 2021.

Vladislav Preobrazhensky, executive director of the Moscow Investors Club (which unites developers), believes that the production of elevators was largely affected by the freeze in the construction of commercial real estate. For 2023, developers announced the commissioning of 473 thousand square meters. m of offices in Moscow, but consultants expect that less than half of this volume will actually be sold (see Kommersant of January 26).

Another reason for the decline in production, the general director of the Russian Elevator Association, Petr Kharlamov, calls the reduction in funding for regional programs to replace obsolete and emergency elevators. According to him, in 2022, the regional authorities purchased 14 thousand elevators, which is 20% less year on year. This happened, among other things, due to the increase in prices for products. NEO Center expert Sergey Netsvetaev recalls that in 2022, Russian elevators have risen in price by 30-50% due to the restructuring of logistics chains for the purchase of imported components.

In addition, in 2022 the Russian market lost one of the major players. Since March 2022, the American OTIS plant in St. Petersburg has suspended work, which accounted for 16% of production in 2021, or more than 7 thousand elevators. In July, the company sold its Russian business to Armen Sargsyan’s S8 Capital holding. The restoration of production at the plant was announced only at the end of 2022.

Meteor Lift (formerly the OTIS plant in St. Petersburg) did not comment on production volumes in 2022, but said that the production capacity of the plant is 10 thousand elevators per year with the possibility of increasing output to 15 thousand.

Some players still managed to ramp up production. The Moscow Electrical Equipment and Elevators plant, which is part of PIK Group, doubles its output on average every year, says Ruslan Rodikov, CEO of the company. According to him, by 2024 it is planned to increase production volumes to 3.5 thousand units annually.

Logistical problems faced by elevator manufacturers may begin to be resolved already this year with the emergence of new foreign trade partners, Vladislav Preobrazhensky believes. This, in his opinion, will lead to the stabilization of the supply of components in 2024. Then the industry will be able to reach the output volumes that were in 2021, Petr Kharlamov predicts. But this year, he expects, the low figures will continue.

Daria Andrianova